Vampire in Shining Armour DISCONTINUED
by mavalenovaninagavi
Summary: Bella didn't fall into depression when the Cullens left, instead she used their money to go to college in New Orleans. While there, a certain red head tracked her down and tried to kill her, only for Bella to be rescued by a mysterious, dark-haired stranger. [A One-shot that became a short series of Drabbles.]
1. Vampire in Shining Armour

**A/N: So, it's 3:52am where I live, and I can't sleep, and this idea popped into my head while eating a bowl of cornflakes so, yeah.**

 **¯\\_(** **ツ** **)_/¯**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Originals or Twilight. Those amazing work of arts belong to Julie Plec/L. J. Smith/The CW and Stephenie Meyer.**

 **Thank you to Louisaxo for Beta-ing this.**

* * *

Bella Swan walked down the street on her way home from college at dusk. When the Cullens left her a year ago, she'd taken the money they'd gifted her and used it to go to college in New Orleans, a sunny place where vampires were sure to avoid. She was studying to be a publisher and had a part time job as a waitress in Rousseau's to earn some money. She'd managed to find an apartment across from a compound where a man named Marcel lived.

Bella had just come out of an alley leading on to the street when she was grabbed and thrown against the brick wall of the alley. Gasping, she looked up to see Victoria leaning over her.

"Hello again Bella. Long time no see. Where's your little _family_?" She sneered.

"Hi Victoria. Nice to see you again. Is this about the whole 'Edward killing James' thing?" At Victoria's snarl, Bella continued. "Ah, so it is. You do realise that it wasn't my fault, right? James attacked me, and Edward killed him. I did nothing except lie on the floor bleeding."

"You think that makes any difference with me? It's your fault that James is dead."

"Oh, you wanna place the blame on someone?" Bella interrupted. "Then fine, let's talk about whose fault it is. If you really want to blame someone for James' death, then blame _yourself_. You're his _mate_ and yet you weren't there when he needed you to help him. He died _alone_ because instead of being there to help and protect him, you were off stalking my family -"

Victoria cut her off with a roar as she pulled her leg back and stomped on Bella's leg, breaking it. Ironically, it was the same leg that James broke. "Don't you dare talk like this is my fault! It's yours and you are going to pay for it." She shrieked.

Wincing in pain, but managing a weak laugh, Bella told her "If you're going to kill me Victoria then do it."

Grabbing Bella's hair, Victoria smashed her head into the brick wall hard enough to make her bleed but not kill her. Crouching down, she ran her hands through Bella's hair, getting blood on them. Lifting her hand to her nose, Victoria took a sniff and her eyes turned black. Growling, Victoria told her "Oh no, sweetheart. I'm not going to kill you … yet."

Pulling back, Victoria focused her gaze on Bella's neck. By this time Bella was fading into unconsciousness, but she was able to make out Victoria's red hair suddenly detaching from her body along with the sound of metal tearing. Bella thought she saw the faint glow of fire and a shadow standing over her before the black spots in her vision turned into one solid mass.

* * *

Bella slowly came around to hushed voices above her.

"What did you do to her?" A British, female voice hissed.

"I didn't do anything! I saved her from that cold stone, red haired bitch." An offended male British voice whisper-yelled back.

"You know, you two fight a lot more often since Kol came back from the dead." Another, amused British male voice observed.

"Be quiet. Listen to her heartbeat." A different voice hushed them. "She's waking up."

Bella felt her heart quicken as their words registered. They could hear her heartbeat? _Vampires_. A voice whispered in her mind.

Before she could go into a full-blown panic attack, someone grasped on to her hand. It wasn't overly warm like Jake's, nor was it cold like Edward's. So, the person wasn't a wolf or vampire. But they were definitely supernatural.

"It's alright darling. You're safe now, no one's going to hurt you." The first male voice, Kol, murmured.

"Yeah, like she's going to believe that Kol. She was being chased by a cold one and then she wakes up in a strange place." The female said sarcastically.

"Shut up Bekah." The last male voice told them. "Kol, see if you can get her to open her eyes."

The hand holding Bella's squeezed slightly. "Darling, can you open your eyes for me?"

Blinking slightly, Bella slowly opened her eyes to see a dark haired, young man of about 19 years leaning over her. He gave her a bright smile when he saw she was awake.

"Hello darling. It's good to see your eyes open." Helping her sit up, Kol leaned her back against the pillows as Bella surveyed her surroundings. She was in a room with bronze walls and a light brown carpet. There was a matching oak desk, wardrobe and chest of drawers. To the left of the room was a door leading to what looked like and en-suite. Bella was laying on a king size bed with cream sheets, but Bella's attention was focused on the people crowding around the bed.

There was a blonde girl who looked to be around 17 with blue eyes wearing a black dress and high heels standing on the left side of the bed. Behind her, leaning against the wall stood a tall, blonde haired man in dark jeans and a grey shirt. He had high cheekbones and a square jaw with stubble. He was smirking, but there was an aura of darkness around him. Standing at the foot of the bed, was an older man, probably the eldest. He had dark brown hair parted to the left side and dark brown eyes, which were regarding her intently.

Finally, Bella turned her attention to the young man sitting to her right. He was sitting next to her, holding her hand. He had brown hair too, like the older man and brown eyes, but they somehow managed to look warm and cold at the same time. Almost as if he wanted to embrace her, but also send her away simultaneously.

"Where am I?" She asked, looking around at all four of the strangers.

The blonde man answered her, smirking. "You're in the Mikaelson residence, love. I'm Klaus."

He goes to say more but the blonde female cuts in, giving him a warning glare. "I'm Rebekah. Nice to meet you. What's your name?"

Bella was wary of telling them, especially as she hadn't forgotten the fact that they were some kind of supernatural creatures. They seemed to sense her hesitation, for the man next to her assured, "We won't hurt you. You don't need to worry."

Sighing, Bella answered the blonde's question. "My name is Isabella Swan. But I prefer Bella."

She was rewarded with a smile from both the young woman and the young man while the other two just stared warily at her.

The man at the end of her bed introduced himself next. "My name is Elijah. It is a pleasure to meet you, Bella." Bella nodded at him, turning to look at the one they had called 'Kol'.

"You already know my name, darling." He gave her a charming smile and Bella felt her heart speed up at the sight of it.

"Yes, I believe I do, _Kol_." Bella replied, nodding. His smile grew even wider, if that was possible when he heard his name come out of her mouth, liking the way it sounded.

Their moment was interrupted though, by Klaus suddenly springing away from the wall, the tension that Bella sensed he leashed inside him springing free as he demanded, "Yes, yes all these pleasantries are very nice but isn't anyone else wondering what a cold one was doing attacking her?" He asked his siblings rhetorically.

Bella heard Kol beside her growl at his brother warningly. "Nik …"

Ignoring his brother and turning to Bella, he compelled her, "You are going to tell us everything about why that red headed cold bitch wanted you." He stepped back, expecting her to start spilling her guts to him, but to his surprise she did no such thing.

Pulling her hand from Kol's, Bella sprang out of the bed and made to run for the door, wanting to get away from those freaks no matter how charming some of them seemed to be. She made it hallway across the room before Klaus suddenly appeared in front of her, grabbing her arms and snarling. "She's on vervain!"

His grip on her tightened to the point where bruises started to form. Suddenly, he was gone from in front of her and crashing into the wall, Kol standing in front of him, growling. "Get your hands off her Nik! I won't tell you again."

Elijah held Klaus back as he went to attack Kol and Rebekah came up to stand beside Bella. "Stop! You're scaring Bella. We are never going to find out the truth if you two keep fighting. Nik, don't touch Bella or I can't guarantee that Kol won't kill you. Kol be patient with Nik, he is just worried about whether our family is in danger. Now, how about we take this down to the living room."

The two brothers glared at each other before Elijah pulled Nik put of the room with Rebekah following as Kol went over to Bella. "After you."

Bella walked out of the room and down the hall to the same room as the others and sat on a couch with Kol on one side of her, Rebekah on the other and Elijah and Klaus opposite them.

Elijah was the first one to speak. "Explanations are in order for all of us I believe. Bella we'll tell you ours first. We are the Mikaelsons, the Original family. The very first vampires."

"You're not vampires. Vampires are cold, and hard as stone and nothing can kill them apart from fire or others of their kind – or a Quileute shapeshifter." Bella interrupted.

Elijah sighed. "I see that you are familiar with Cold Ones and Shapeshifters. I am afraid however, that you are wrong. I can assure you that we are vampires, and that vampires are as much flesh and blood as you, can be killed by sunlight unless they have an enchanted ring, and a stake to the heart, or by having their heart ripped out or being beheaded. Apart from us, we can only be killed by a white oak stake." He continued to tell her the family's history, of how their younger brother, Henrick, died in a werewolf attack and so their mother made them immortal to protect the rest of her offspring.

When he finished, Bella sat in a stunned silence as once more everything she thought she knew about the world got turned upside down again. She felt a pressure on her hand and looked down to see Kol holding her hand again. When she looked up at his face, he gave her a reassuring smile.

"I know that it's a lot to process. But do you think that you could explain some things now?"

Nodding, Bella told them her story. Of how she'd moved to Forks to live with Charlie, leading her to meet the Cullens and how they welcomed her into the family before James attacked her, which explained why Victoria was after her. How Alice threw her a birthday party that she didn't want, getting a paper cut and making Jasper attack her, which set the chain of events off that led to Edward leaving her in the middle of the forest alone.

When she got to that part, Kol stood up and stormed from the room, Elijah following him. In the room next to theirs, Bella could hear furniture being destroyed and snarling. Confused, she turned to the other two siblings. Klaus looked amused and Rebekah looked uncomfortable. They sat in silence for two minutes, listening into the destruction next door until it all went silent suddenly.

There was a breeze and suddenly, Kol was sat next to her again, a tight grip on her hand. Elijah followed behind and continued as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"Tell me Bella, you didn't know about our kind of vampires. How come you are on vervain then?" He asked, truly curious.

"I'm not on vervain. I don't even know what it is." Bella told him exasperated.

"If I may make a suggestion." Klaus spoke up. "We could always test her blood. She isn't wearing any vervain as I can't smell it on her, but it could be in her bloodstream. If her blood hurts us, we know that she's on vervain."

Kol stiffened almost imperceptibly next to her. "None of you are biting her." He stated, like that settled everything.

"By all means brother, you can do it." Klaus told him. "But make no mistake that if you do not I will. We are going to find out the truth about this," He paused to look over Bella. "Stranger." He finished.

Kol growled but before he could say anything, Bella interrupted. "If it's any help, Edward couldn't read my mind."

Everyone turned to stare at her, Elijah with his head cocked as though trying to work something out; Rebekah with narrowed eyes and a furrowed forehead; Klaus with suspicious eyes and Kol with a strange gleam in his eye that Bella couldn't identify. It seemed to be a strange mixture of lust, admiration and something else.

"She's a shield." Elijah's voice broke the silence, an awed tone to his voice.

Everyone in the room seemed to know what that meant as they all had a look of realization on their face.

"I'm sorry, I'm a what now?" Bella's confused voice rang out as it seemed that everyone had forgotten her.

Kol was the one who answered, although it looked like Elijah had opened his mouth first. "Your mind can't be manipulated or tricked into believing something that isn't true. It's almost like a protective blanket is wrapped around your brain, preventing foreign 'objects' – like compulsion, people reading your thoughts and other stuff – out of your head." He explained.

"Oh."

They all sat in silence for a moment, no one sure what to say next until Elijah spoke up. "Which room would you like, Bella?"

"I'm sorry?" She stuttered out.

"Which room would you like?" He repeated.

"Oh, no, I can't stay here -"

Before she could finish Kol interrupted, quite harshly, "Darling if you don't want me to kidnap you and lock you up somewhere then I suggest you shut up and accept the fact that you now live here. We shall have some men collect your stuff tomorrow."

There was something about the way that he said it that told Bella she _really_ shouldn't argue. So, she meekly nodded her head and breathed a sigh of relief when everyone in the room became a lot less tense.

* * *

The sound of something breaking came from the room in which Bella and Kol were.

Not long after, the Mikaelsons could hear shouting. "Why must you always lecture me?"

"Lecture you? Lecture you?!" Came Bella's shrill voice. "I'm not lecturing you, I am trying to help you! What do you think the people of New Orleans will do if bodies keep turning up? They'll _leave_. Is that what you want? To turn this beautiful city into a ghost town?"

"Oh, don't pretend that you care about that!" Kol's enraged yell sounded out. "You want me to become a bunny eater – don't you? The truth is that my eating habits disturb you and you want me to switch to chowing down on animal blood."

"That is not true!" Bella denied, insulted that he would think that of her. "I don't care what your food source is – it's nothing to do with me. Yes, I will admit that I don't like how you kill all the girls you drink from but I'm not going to try to turn you into another 'vegetarian'. I'm simply trying to look out for you."

"Well don't!" Kol roared. "I don't care what the people of New Orleans think. I don't care what you think, I don't care what anybody thinks! You mean nothing more to me than a stranger I pass on the streets. Why are you even still here? Isn't it time you left and went back to your own home?!"

And before Bella could respond he turned and jumped out of the window, unable to see the tears in Bella's eyes – tears that _he_ had caused, leaving all of the other Mikaelsons to listen in as Bella tore from the room crying.

* * *

Rebekah knocked on Bella's door once she had given the dark-haired girl time to calm down.

"Bella? It's Bekah, can I come in?" She called.

At Bella's small 'yes', she pushed open the door to find Bella sitting on her bed with dried tear tracks on her cheeks, trying to act as if nothing had happened.

"Rebekah, what do you want? Is everything ok?" She asked.

"Don't lie to me, Bella. I heard – we _all_ heard what happened with Kol." Rebekah told her, sitting next to her.

Sniffling, Bella asked "I don't understand. What have I done to make him hate me so much? When I first came here, he was so nice and caring. Now he hates me, and I don't know why."

Rebekah wished that _she_ had been the one to go after Kol instead of Elijah and Klaus. She would have knocked some sense into him one way or the other. She couldn't believe that he was _stupid_ enough to try and push Bella away; especially as he knew what she was to him.

 _Screw it. I know Kol didn't want us to tell her, but he never will, and she deserves to know. It involves her just as much as him._

"Bella, there's something you need to know about you and Kol." She started. When the young girl turned to her, Rebekah took a breath to steel her nerves before continuing. "Have you ever heard of soulmates?"

Bella snorted. "What, you mean like all the crap in romance books where two people's souls are connected?"

"It's not just myth, Bella. Our kind of vampire have soulmates, one special person out there _just_ for them and no one else. Some of us wait hundreds of years, or thousands in my family's case, to find them. When we find our soulmates, most of us become very … possessive of them. But some … some push them away, try to keep them at arm's length. It never works, of course. It always ends up backfiring with the two people being together _anyway_ , it just means that they both get hurt beforehand."

"I'm sorry Bekah, but what does any of this have to do with Kol and me?" Bella interrupted.

" _You're_ Kol's soulmate, Bella." Bekah told her. She just managed to jump up off the bed and grab Bella as she fainted.

* * *

Klaus and Elijah returned with a frantic Kol. He had felt Bella faint and thought that something was wrong with her, making his elder brothers' job much easier.

Bursting into the room, he saw Bella nestled in her bed, propped up by pillows with Rebekah hovering at her side.

"Bekah! What did you do?!" Kol exclaimed, outraged.

"I didn't do anything, brother." Rebekah stated, before a guilty look came across her face. "Well, actually, that isn't strictly true. I …" She faltered at the look Kol gave her.

"You what, Bekah? What did you do?" Kol asked, dangerously calm. When his sister didn't answer, he exploded. "TELL ME, BEKAH. WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"Itoldherthatyoutwoaresoulmates." She blurted out.

Kol froze, as did the other brothers. While Elijah and Klaus did not agree with Kol not telling Bella of the connection they had, they could clearly see that Rebekah's attempt to help just made things worse.

"You did what?" Kol asked, deadly calm.

"I … told Bella that you and she are … soulmates." She mumbled.

With an enraged roar, Kol flew at his sister, completely prepared to stick a dagger in her heart. A groan from the bed stopped him though.

Turning, they all saw Bella stirring. Kol flashed over to her side, holding her hand again as everyone else left the room.

Opening her eyes, Kol's face was the first thing that Bella saw. For a moment she was confused – did she fall asleep? – before she remembered their fight and the information Bekah had told her prior to her fainting.

"Hello, darling." Kol murmured, helping her sit up.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I came back when I felt you faint." He replied simply.

"Wait, when you _felt_ me faint?" Her eyes bugged wide as she stared at him.

Nodding, Kol reminded her, "Yes. Remember, Rebekah told you … about … you and me …"

"Yes." She nodded as well, and they lapsed into silence. "Why didn't you tell me, Kol?"

He sighed and hesitated. "I thought that you deserved better. Someone who wasn't a killer. I thought that if I could make you think that I was a monster and didn't know about our connection then you'd have no problem leaving."

"But what would have happened to you?" She furrowed her brows.

"I would have … Well, I'm not sure. But from the research I would guess that I would turn into a shell of who I used to be." Kol frowned.

"Do you want me to leave?" She questioned fearfully.

He snapped his head up to face her. "No! Of course, I don't want you to leave. I thought it would be best for you, but …"

"But?" Bella prompted.

"I don't want you to leave me." He admitted, looking down.

Smiling, Bella leaned forward. She waited until he looked up at her before leaning forward and kissing him lightly.

Kol froze for a moment before he wrapped his arms around her and responded eagerly. Smiling, Bella let him deepen the kiss before pulling away to breath, resting her forehead against his.

"I don't want to leave you either." She whispered.

Kol gave her the most brilliant smile and nuzzled his face into her neck, where he started biting her lightly.

"Kol stop! That tickles!" Bella laughed and felt him laugh against her neck as well.

For a moment they just held each other before Kol pulled back and looked at her mock seriously. "Isabella Swan," He paused as she growled. "Will you do me the _great_ honour of going out with me?"

Bella arched her brow and replied just as teasingly, "Do you really have to ask?"

Kol grinned at her and kissed her again, feeling like he would never be able to get enough of her, no matter how long they lived.

* * *

A year later found Kol and Bella in the same restaurant they went to for their first date.

They were sitting across from each other, laughing at the look on Klaus' face the day before when he learned that Camille was on her period (the reason why she had been so snappy with him recently). He thought she was pregnant and told her that he would look after her and the baby, being all kind and gentle. At least until Camille slapped him and gave him a long lecture about how 'just because a woman is a bit hormonal does not mean she's pregnant' and continued to tell him 'if you really must know, I'm on my period', before flouncing out and leaving a very relieved Klaus.

They'd just finished their sticky toffee pudding when Kol got down on one knee and pulled a box out of his pocket.

"Bella, I know we've only been going out for a year, but we share a connection that no one else does. I understand if you want to wait a while longer, but I want to spend the rest of my life with you, however long that is. So, Bella Swan, will you do me the honour of marrying me?"

He opened the box to reveal a rose gold circlet with small diamonds and rubies clustered around a larger square diamond in golden brackets. Bella felt tears come to her eyes as she looked at the man she loved.

Just as she was about to answer, she heard a voice behind her that made her blood freeze over.

"Bella?"

* * *

Bella paced hers and Kol's shared bedroom, worrying. After Edward and the rest of the Cullens had turned up, Kol had quickly ushered her out of the restaurant and back to the plantation. He had led her up to their room and told her to wait there before disappearing out of the window. That was over two hours ago.

Finally, when she was just about to go mad with worry, she turned around to pace the opposite way and smacked into a man's chest.

"Kol!" She exclaimed when she looked up and saw his face. Then she frowned and sniffed his clothes. "Why do you smell like you've been at a bonfire?" When Kol looked guilty, she immediately became suspicious. "What did you do?"

Kol sighed before admitting, "I may have gone after the copper haired statue and torn him up slightly."

"How much did you 'tear him up'?"

"Well, let's just say that he won't ever be losing his v card." He smirked.

Bella gasped, "You didn't?" At his nod, she exclaimed, "You _did_! Oh, Kol, why?"

"He left you to die in the forest." He growled before pulling her into his arms and burying his face in her hair.

As nice as being held by him was, she had to ask about what happened before Edward turned up. Pulling away, she hesitantly met his eyes. "Kol, you know what happened before he turned up? When you … proposed to me …"

"I meant it." Kol told her, already knowing what she was going to ask. "And as I recall, you didn't give me an answer."

Bella gave him a look. "Can you really not guess what my answer is going to be?" When Kol's only reply was a cheeky grin, she sighed. "Yes. The answer is yes, of course I'll marry you!" Her voice rose in surprise when he picked her up suddenly and spun her around.

Putting her back on her feet, he kissed her until they both ran out of breath. "I love you." He whispered, placing his forehead against hers.

"As I love you." Bella replied.

* * *

Kol stood at the end of the aisle, nervously awaiting his bride. His brothers stood next to him, Klaus cracking jokes about how she'd probably run away and Elijah trying to reassure a frantic Kol that he was sure she hadn't left him in the lurch.

It was only when the band begun, and all the guests stood did his heart beat regularly again. At least that was until he saw Bella walking down the aisle …

Bella stood in front of the mirror, looking at the beautiful young woman staring back at her. She couldn't believe the person in the mirror was her. Her silky chestnut hair was styled in a side braid leading into a bun with white flowers entwined in her hair, while her white, ballgown dress hinted at her curves while still keeping her modesty.

Rebekah stepped into her line of sight with a bouquet of dark purple and light purple flowers for Bella and a smile on her face. She was Bella's bridesmaid, along with Camille and Hayley. They were all wearing matching strapless, floor length, light aqua blue dresses with their hair styled in a half up half down plait with slicked back sides. They looked beautiful.

"It's time Bella." Bekah's soft voice jolted Bella out of her thoughts.

Turning to look at the blonde girl, Bella admitted, "I'm nervous."

The other three women in the room smirked. "So's Kol. Klaus is making jokes about how you've ran away." Camille, who had turned into vampire shortly after Kol and Bella announced their engagement, informed her.

"And Elijah's trying to comfort him by saying you wouldn't leave him because you love him." Hayley had a wistful smile on her face as she mentioned her soon-to-be husband.

Bekah snorted. "Of course she loves him, she's asked him to turn her into one of us after their honeymoon."

Bella blushed. She remembered that conversation well. Her and Kol had just finished some very passionate love making and were spooning when Kol had asked her if she ever planned on leaving him.

Her reply had been "I'm afraid you're stuck with me forever."

"Well, not really forever." Kol murmured, holding her tighter to him, as if talking of her dying would kill her there and then and he could protect her from that fate by holding her.

"Yes forever, Kol." Bella answered, leaning up on her elbow to get a better look at his face. "If you'll have me, that is."

Kol's face lit up as the meaning of her words sunk in. "You really mean it?" He looked like a kid who had just gotten everything he could ever want for Christmas.

Bella nodded and Kol pulled her down to him, kissing her, resulting in another round of extremely energetic activities.

Shaking those thoughts out of her head, she smiled at the girls and left the room, meeting her father outside.

When Charlie noticed his daughter, tears came to his eyes as the realisation that she really _was_ grown-up set in. Offering her his arm, he told her gruffly, "You look beautiful, Bells."

"Thank you, dad."

Reaching the path leading to Kol, Bella and her father hung back, letting the bridesmaids go first. When the last, Rebekah, was ten paces ahead of her, Charlie led Bella down the aisle.

Scanning the rows as she walked past them, Bella noticed her mother and Phil, as well as her high school friends, Angela, Ben, Jessica and Mike. She smiled at them as she passed, and at Sue Clearwater, her dad's new girlfriend.

All thought of the guests left her mind though, once she saw Kol. He was wearing a black suit with a matching bow tie and looked rather dashing. How did he manage to look drool worthy in _everything_ he wore?

When she reached him and took his hands, she smiled as she felt that they were slightly clammy.

Kol got lost in her eyes and her in his until the priest turned to Kol and told him it was time to say his vows.

"Right, erm …" Turning to Bella, he gripped her hands tighter and stared into her eyes as he recalled the vows he wrote a few days previous. "Bella, I have known you for a year and a half, though it feels like I've known you all my life. I know to some that it would seem absolutely crazy we are getting married so soon after meeting, but I love you. I'm always going to love you, so why wait when we can enjoy more time together as husband and wife? I may not be the most kindest person out there, but I do know that I will look after you in sickness and health, for as long as we both shall live."

By the time he finished, his breathing was laboured, and Bella had tears in her eyes.

"Kol, how am I supposed to top that?" She paused as everyone in the audience laughed. "When I first met you, I was passed out in an alleyway entrance because I'd tripped and hit my head." This she said because that was the story they had told her parents. "Most guys would have completely ignored me and carried on or dumped me in a hospital all by myself. Instead, you picked me up, drove me to the hospital and stayed with me all night – even taking me back to your family's house the next morning to make sure I didn't have a concussion. A complete stranger. You say you're not kind, but why would someone who _wasn't_ kind have done that for someone they didn't know? No matter how much you may deny it, there's a goodness in you that you let very few people see, and I am honoured to be one of them. I love you."

Kol smiled as she finished and pulled her in for a kiss as the priest announced them man and wife.

Later that night, after they'd had the after party, Rebekah led her upstairs to change out of her wedding dress and into a red halter neck dress for the journey.

"Do you know where he's taking you?" Rebekah asked Bella as she helped the girl by undoing the fastenings at the back of her dress.

Bella nodded as she smiled. "He said he's rented an entire island off the coast of Australia, I think it's called Rayder Island."

"The entire island?" Bekah questioned incredulously.

She nodded. "He said he wants us to be able to go anywhere I want for the entire four weeks."

"He really does love you." Bekah mused.

Bella pulled a face. "I hope you haven't just realised that, Bekah. We did just get married, you know."

Bekah laughed as Bella pulled the pins out of her hair and shook it loose, before stepping out of her high heels and into some flats.

"Now come on, I've got a honeymoon to get to." Bella grinned and left the room, meeting Kol downstairs.

The plane ride to Australia was rather uneventful, with both of them sleeping for most of it. When they reached the airport, Kol got in a pre-ordered taxi which took them to the docks, where a man with a boat was waiting for them. Kol put all the luggage down below before helping Bella into a seat and sitting down himself as the boat roared to life beneath them and the man steered it out onto the dark water.

They rode on the boat for about 40 minutes before the outline of an island came into view. Reaching the dock there, Kol helped Bella up and put her and their luggage into a car already there. When he had paid the man, he got into the driver's seat and turned the key, starting the ignition.

"How did you manage to 'hire' this island, Kol?" Bella broke the peaceful silence.

"I did a little bit of digging. Heard about the man who owns this island and contacted him, asking if I could use this place for a month." Kol replied. "Do you like it?" He asked as they pulled up to a two-storey house made from mostly glass.

"It's beautiful." She breathed. She went to get out of the car, when Kol placed a hand on her arm, stopping her from leaving.

"Wait here." He told her, before he disappeared, along with the luggage. The lights in the house turned on and suddenly Kol was opening her door for her and helping her step out. When she was firmly on her feet and the door shut behind her, Kol swung her up into his arms bridal style and started towards the house.

"Do you think this is really necessary?" She asked as they passed the threshold. Bella realised that it must not be anyone's permanent home, for there was no barrier preventing him from entering.

"Yes." He replied simply, stopping in the hallway. "Do you wish to see the rest of the house or shall we go straight upstairs to our room?"

"Mm, I think I can look around tomorrow morning." Kol grinned cheekily at her as he started up the stairs.

"I love you, _Mrs Bella Mikaelson_."

"And I love you, _Mr Kol Mikaelson_."

* * *

 **A/N: I made the island name up, if you couldn't already tell. Also, so sorry for the crappy vows, I'm not very good at writing stuff like that.**

 **I have links for Bella's engagement ring, wedding dress, hair, bouquet and the bridesmaid dresses on my Quotev version of this story if you want to see them (I use the same name there as I do here).**

 **Let me know what you thought of this chapter, reviews are always welcome.**


	2. The Cullens

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Originals or Twilight. Those amazing works of art belong to Julie Plec/L. J. Smith/ The CW and Stephenie Meyer.**

 **Thank you to Louisaxo for Beta-ing this.**

 **WARNING: Some dark-ish themes ahead.**

* * *

Kol was _fuming_. Just as he was about to ask his Bella to marry him, the copper haired prick who broke her heart and left her for dead turned up and ruined the whole thing.

He stormed downstairs after ushering Bella into their room only to be met with his three siblings.

"Where are you going Kol?" Elijah asked tiredly.

"I have some unfinished business with a certain Cold One coven who left her." He snarled. He didn't need to define the 'her', all his siblings knew who he meant.

"They're here?!" Rebekah exclaimed, outraged. "How do you know?"

"They all turned up at the restaurant Bella and I were at." He clenched his hands into fists as he again thought of what happened.

"Do you know where they are?" Klaus spoke, he had become rather fond of the little shield in the past year, especially when he saw the change she brought about in his little brother. He viewed her as another sister, one who he was slightly more protective of as she couldn't take care of herself as well as Rebekah yet.

Kol shook his head, even more annoyed as he realised he had no idea where they were staying. "No. I'm going to need to call in one of my favours." He growled in frustration. "But that's going to take even longer!"

Klaus put a hand on his brother's shoulder, hoping to calm him slightly. "You and Bekah go back to the restaurant, see if you can find anything leading to their whereabouts from there. I'll stay here and contact one of _my_ men and have him track them down. It'll come through a lot faster. I'll call you when he gets through."

His brother barely paused to give him a grateful nod before he was stalking off, Bekah close on his heels.

"Oh, and Kol! If either of you find anything before I do, call me!" He shouted after them, getting a raised hand in acknowledgement from his sister before the two disappeared.

* * *

As it turned out, they had to wait for Klaus' 'man' as neither Kol nor Rebekah could find anything leading to the Cullens' whereabouts.

Rebekah was pulling Kol away from a wall, where he had been about to start punching it out of sheer frustration, when her phone started blasting 'Radioactive' by Imagine Dragons.

Pulling it out, she saw the name 'Nik' displayed and answered it quickly, hoping for some good news. "Have you found anything out?" She questioned as soon as she answered it, quickly getting to the point.

"Yes." Her brother's voice crackled through the speaker. From the corner of her eye, Bekah saw Kol listening in intently. "The Cullens are staying in Rosebeck Hotel. About 100 miles east out of town."

Kol snatched the phone from her and spoke into it. "Meet us there, Nik. _Don't_ do anything to any of them until I get there."

He hung up before Klaus could reply and tossed Rebekah her phone as he sped off, her following as she tucked her phone back into her bag.

* * *

Kol stormed up the path to the house, his sister trailing behind him, when he noticed Klaus with the lady who owned the inn. As Kol came up to the threshold, he smacked into a barrier. Glancing at his brother, he was surprised to find him _grinning_.

"Mrs Applebomb, would you please be so kind as to invite my siblings inside." Klaus requested joyfully in her ear, enjoying the rush of exhilaration that spread through him at the realisation that he was doing something he was good at, something _fun_ again.

Mrs Applebomb just continued to smile at the Mikaelsons, she was clearly compelled. Either that, or she found having a knife pressed against her back enjoyable, in which case she _seriously_ needed to get some help.

"Come inside, dears." Mrs Applebomb said drearily, a hazy look in her eyes.

Kol sped inside, Bekah just behind him as Klaus compelled the woman to stay where she was before speeding after them.

Relying on his hearing and sense of smell, Kol crashed into room 3B, making the door fly off its hinges as the seven Cold Ones in the room shot up and stared at him.

Carlisle sensed what they were immediately, as did Jasper, who took a defensive stance in front of Alice.

"The Mikaelsons. What can I do for you?" Carlisle asked, subtly pushing Esme behind him, a move that didn't go unmissed by Kol, who grinned maliciously, a manic gleam in his eye.

"It's not so much a question of what you can do for us, but what _we_ can do to you." Klaus tilted his head as he smiled too, a big one that showed all his teeth, ironically making him look like a wolf.

"Or rather, what Kol is _going_ to do you." Rebekah gave them a closed lip smile, scanning around for the copper haired one Bella had called 'Edward'. When she spotted him, she was disgusted to see that he was the furthest one back, cowering behind the others.

It seemed that Kol had seen him too, for he quickly sped between the others and gripped Edward by the neck, holding him against the wall. Emmett went to go and help him, as did Rosalie but Klaus grabbed Emmett, keeping his arms against his sides and Rebekah sped in front of Rosalie, stopping there and giving the blonde a snarky smile.

Jasper just pressed Alice further back, knowing that the Cullens had to play it carefully else they all end up dead. Behind him, Alice froze as a vision hit her.

 _The blonde-haired male held Emmett back as the blonde female sat on Rosalie, stopping her from attacking as 'Kol' held Edward in a headlock, ready to throw him on a fire._

 _Next to that fire, were two more, with purple smoke floating up from them, and the sickly-sweet smell of Cold Ones burning filled the room. She could make out Esme and Carlisle's head in one of them and what looked like a leg of hers and an arm of Jasper's sticking out of the other one._

" _Hurry up Kol, we need to clear out before the other residents call the fire brigade!" The blonde male shouted at Kol._

 _Kol went to throw Edward on the fire, only to pause as he grinned maliciously at him. "Actually Klaus, Bekah, kill those two first. Before he dies I want him to see his entire family burn."_

' _Klaus' sighed as 'Bekah' hefted up Rosalie and slowly pulled off her limbs before throwing her torso and head into one fire._

 _When she finished, she turned to Klaus expectantly, who simply tore off Emmett's head and tossed it into the fire before folding his arms and turning to look at Kol._

" _ **Now**_ _will you kill him?" He growled._

 _Kol grinned and went to toss Edward in, only to stop as another idea passed through his head. Turning to Edward, he found the copper haired teen whimpering._

" _Why are you doing this?" He whined._

" _You left my Bella heartbroken and alone in the woods." Kol replied._

" _But my family didn't do anything!" Edward protested._

" _They left her too. They may not have left her in the woods, but she cared for them and they left her all the same." Kol told him as if it was obvious._

 _Grasping ahold of Edward's pelvic area, there was the sound of tearing metal before Kol threw the still jean-clad piece into the fire._

" _Why aren't you killing him?!" Rebekah demanded when he let Edward go._

" _I want him to know that it's his fault that his family is dead. What's the point of being wracked with guilt for the rest of his life if that life is only going to be fifteen minutes long? And this way, he never gets to enjoy the pleasures of a woman." Kol smirked before speeding out of the room, heading home to Bella with his two siblings following as the hotel behind them burned …_

Alice came back to the present and found herself staring at Jasper's back as Edward looked at her in horror, having seen the vision in her mind. Gently placing a hand on Jasper's back, she stepped around him, hoping to change the future.

"I know what you want." She told them, going to take another step forward only to be stopped by her mate's arm. Placing a comforting hand on Jasper's arm, Alice moved him aside.

"Oh, you do, do you?" Kol asked, pulling a lighter out of his back pocket.

"Yes. You want us dead." Alice answered simply, every one of the Cullens tensing around them.

Carlisle, ever the peace keeper, stepped forward. "Please, let us all talk about whatever the issue is like civilised people. I am sure we can solve it without any violence." His tone was placating but instead of calming the three Originals down, he seemed to just rile them up more.

Klaus' eyes glowed golden and his teeth elongated as he growled. "Tell me, do you think a Hybrid bite would have the same effect on you as the Quileute wolves do? I would so _love_ to find out."

He became a blur as he sped over to Carlisle, striking and biting him in the shoulder. Klaus' teeth sliced through the flesh, venom leaking from it. Making sure he didn't swallow any, Klaus pulled away to see his own Hybrid venom start spreading through the Coven leader's body.

"Huh. Whadd'ya know? It works better." Klaus mused, watching in amusement as Carlisle dropped to the floor and Esme followed him, cradling him as he convulsed. It seemed that instead of the venom taking it's time and giving the person hallucinations, Klaus' venom simply worked quickly through the bloodstream, making the victim experience excruciating pain before killing them.

When Carlisle finally lay still, blank eyes staring at nothing Esme broke into dry sobs, clutching him to her tighter as she mourned her mate's passing.

Alice stared in horror. She had changed the future, it seemed, but not for the best. Instead she had just given them all more painful deaths. Turning to Jasper, she held his hand and let the love she felt for him fill her body, knowing he would feel it. In return, she felt him send her his own love in goodbye. They both knew they wouldn't survive the Mikaelsons visit, and Alice couldn't help but feel that they deserved it, after the way they all left Bella.

Klaus grabbed Emmett in a headlock as the Cold One charged at him in fury. Rosalie went to help him, but Rebekah ripped one of her legs off, making her topple to the ground as she lost her balance.

Glancing at their brother, who had Edward held in a position where he was forced to watch everything but couldn't fight back, they waited for him to toss them the lighter.

Cutting his eyes between the two, he tossed Klaus the lighter, watching gleefully as his elder brother set first Emmett's left arm on fire, waiting for it to get dangerously close to his shoulder before moving onto the three other limbs. When he finished that, he moved onto Emmett's torso and finally his head as Rosalie shrieked obscenities at them, promising them a world of pain when she got her hands on them. She didn't seem to realise that she had the lower hand.

Her 'daughter's' shrieking seemed to be the thing to snap Esme out of her mourning, for she suddenly bared her teeth and flashed over to Rebekah, knocking her over as she went to strike, allowing Rosalie to spring at Klaus. Luckily for him he was prepared and dodged the blonde female's attack, letting him strike for her throat and ripping a chunk out. Moving to stand behind her, he flipped the lighter on again and set fire to her hair, making her shriek as the fire went closer to her head before engulfing it and moving down her body.

Satisfied that she was dead, he turned around to help out his little sister, who was managing to block and dodge Esme's attacks but had so far failed to get the upper hand back. Striding over, Klaus yanked the feral mate off of Rebekah and tore her up into pieces no bigger than a keyboard tile before handing them to Bekah, who set each of them on fire.

The three Mikaelsons then turned to the two Cullens left.

"Well, aren't you going to try and beg for your life?" Klaus mocked.

"There's no point." Alice told him. "You won't spare us."

"And there's no point fighting you." Jasper spoke for the first time since they came in to the room. "I've seen your kind before. There's nothing Alice or I can do to deter you from killing us."

Rebekah stared at them both. She was surprised to find that they were exactly as Bella had described them. The short pixie one was smart and clearly knew that they weren't going to leave the hotel alive and the blonde Texan one was battle hardened, a tortured air around him.

"Well, who's first?" She snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of her brother's voice, watching as Alice pushed Jasper forward.

"I don't want you to watch me die, Jasper." She whispered.

Nodding in understanding, he turned to Klaus, but Rebekah stepped forward. "I'll do it." She knew that her brother would likely torture them first and she wanted to give these two a quick death.

Klaus tossed her the lighter and she stepped forward, quickly tearing off Jasper's head and burning him before moving onto Alice and doing the same.

She turned to her two brothers. "Right, take care of him, Kol, and let's go home."

Kol took the lighter from Bekah, turning to Edward to find the copper haired teen whimpering.

"Why are you doing this?" He whined.

"You left my Bella heartbroken and alone in the woods." Kol replied.

"But my family didn't do anything!" Edward protested.

"They left her too. They may not have left her in the woods, but she cared for them and they left her all the same." Kol told him as if it was obvious.

Grasping ahold of Edward's pelvic area, there was the sound of tearing metal before Kol threw the still jean-clad piece into the fire.

"Why aren't you killing him?!" Rebekah demanded when he let Edward go.

"I want him to know that it's his fault that his family is dead. What's the point of being wracked with guilt for the rest of his life if that life is only going to be fifteen minutes long? And this way, he never gets to enjoy the pleasures of a woman." Kol smirked before speeding out of the room, heading home to Bella with his two siblings following as the hotel behind them burned.

* * *

 **A/N: So, I was um-ing and ah-ing over killing off the rest of the Cullens, but I felt that there's no way Kol would just let anyone who hurt Bella go unscathed, so they had to go. Plus I was in a sour mood when I wrote this, so decided to kill some people. : ) Sorry. : (**

 **Also, I know the ending was the same as what Alice saw in her vision, but I thought that it would be fitting that no matter what road they took, the outcome would be the same.**


	3. Bella and Kol's Honeymoon

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Originals or Twilight. Those amazing works of art belong to Julie Plec/L. J. Smith/ The CW and Stephenie Meyer.**

 **Thank you to Louisaxo for Beta-ing this.**

* * *

Kol walked out onto the porch to find his wife sitting in a deckchair reading Wuthering Heights _again_. She was wearing a red bathing suit with a floppy straw hat on her head to protect her from the sun and appeared to be so immersed in the book that she didn't notice him sitting down next to her.

Leaning over to whisper in her ear, he smirked when she jumped and sent her book flying over their heads. "I thought we were going to explore the island today."

"Kol!" Bella exclaimed, glaring at him as she got up to retrieve her book. "How many times have I told you – don't sneak up on me like that! I'm still human for the moment, it _is_ still possible for me to die from a heart attack."

Kol settled back into his own deckchair with a content sigh and a smile on his lips as he stared up at his wife. "True. But," He sung, "You have my blood in your system, therefore in the unlikely event that you _did_ have a heart attack, you would wake up again in a few hours."

They had both agreed, about four days before the wedding that Kol would regularly give Bella his blood, so that if anything happened to her, they knew she would come back.

Bella hummed. "Yes, although there would be the slight problem that there isn't a human for about 5,000 miles so I could end up dying anyway because there's no one to bite."

Kol's smile quickly fell. "You know what? You're right, I don't wanna witness you have a heart attack, maybe it's best if I don't start scaring you again until we're back on the mainland."

Bella gave him her own smirk, having won another debate with her husband. Sitting down in her own deckchair, she barely got through another chapter before Kol plucked the book out of her hands and placed it in his own chair.

"Up, up, up." He ushered her up and into the house, stopping in the kitchen. "Go upstairs, get changed into something suitable for hiking and hurry up."

Bella dug her heels in, stopping him from pushing her into the hallway. "Kol. I am reading Wuth-"

She was cut off by Kol's hand over her mouth. "You have read that book at least over a hundred times, and you will be able to read it thousands more. This is our honeymoon; the whole point of a honeymoon is for the couple to spend time together." Kol chastised. "Now, go upstairs and change."

Bella huffed but did as she was told while Kol started flitting around the kitchen. He got different sandwich fillings out: cucumber, tomato, ham, lettuce, cheese, coleslaw, pickle, egg, tuna, salmon, jam … and made about twelve different sandwich types before putting them in a picnic basket, on top of a green and blue checkered blanket. When he had finished with the sandwiches, he moved onto extras – different flavour crisps, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, bananas, oranges, apples, plums, peaches, biscuits, chocolate, some slices of cake …

After he had put the food in, he got the champagne he had hidden in the back of the fridge along with two flutes and put them in the basket as well, on top of some bottles of water for the journey. The last thing he put in was a single red rose before he closed the basket just as he heard Bella come down the stairs.

As she came around the corner, Kol saw that she had changed into some denim shorts, a light blue vest top and hiking boots with her hair up in a high ponytail. Unconsciously, Kol licked his lips, his eyes scanning up and down her body, taking in her curves as she leant against the doorway.

"Are you finished eye-undressing me?" Her voice snapped him out of his not-exactly-T-rated thoughts and he glanced up to find her smirking at him again.

Kol cleared his throat. "That's not fair." His voice was husky as he chastised his wife. "You know I like that colour on you."

Bella innocently raised her eyebrow. "Do you?" Glancing down at herself, she examined her clothes. "Oh, my bad. Sorry." She raised her head and gave him a coy smile.

Kol tipped his head back and groaned, realising that she had dressed in that colour on purpose as revenge for making her stop reading her book. "You're evil." He told her before turning around and picking up the basket. Determined not to let her get to him, he marched past her, calling over his shoulder, "Come one then! We don't have all day."

Bella shook her head before she started after him, confused as to where exactly they were going. They were on an island, for Pete's sake!

* * *

The couple had been hiking up the hill next to their 'house' for about half an hour when Bella saw a pile of black, shiny coils up ahead of them on the path.

"Kol, look!" She whispered, grabbing his arm to stop him and pointing ahead.

Kol's eyes zeroed in on the black coils basking in the sun and recognised the red scales underneath it, identifying it as a red-bellied black snake. He knew that while it was venomous, a bite from it wouldn't kill Bella. In fact, if he were to pick it up and let it go, instead of attacking them it would simply look for the quickest way out before taking it.

"Stay here." He whispered to Bella before setting down the basket and rushing over to the snake, grabbing it behind its head before it could dart off. He lifted it up as it wrapped its tail around Kol's other wrist, its tongue flicking out as it collected the odours in the air.

Turning around, he walked over to Bella slowly, and held it out to her. "Isn't she beautiful?" He asked rhetorically.

Bella nodded before tentatively holding her hands out. "Can I hold it?"

Kol turned the snake around and offered it to her, waiting for her to place her hand just behind his and letting go, letting its tail wrap around Bella's hand instead.

Bella lifted it up to eye-level, to get a better look at it. "Is it dangerous?" She asked him, her eyes flicking up to his before going back down to the snake.

"It's venomous, but it's bite won't kill. In fact, it usually lives in residential areas. It doesn't attack people, it mainly just wants to hide from humans. This island must be the best place for it."

The two continued to look at the snake in awe before Kol took it from Bella again. "Watch this." He told her excitedly.

Crouching down with his back to the bushes, he put the snake on the ground again and stayed on one knee. Instead of the snake striking Kol, it simply slivered slowly through his legs, making its way over to the brush, gathering speed the closer it got.

Standing there, both Bella and Kol stayed still, watching in fascination until it's black body became swallowed up by the long grass.

"Wow." Bella breathed as Kol stood up and picked up the picnic basket again. "How did you know all that stuff about it?" She asked as she started walking next to him again.

"I've been alive for a thousand years. Seen the rise and fall of empires, seen kings and queens alike destroy nations _and_ Isabella, believe it or not, I have _travelled_." He announced dramatically.

Bella frowned. "You know, you sound like that dragon from _Merlin_. He never gives a straight answer either, always has to make it sound more dramatic than it is."

Kol looked absolutely horrified. "Did you just compare me to a _dragon_?!" He questioned, outraged.

Bella burst out laughing, the sound ringing in the air around them. "Your face!" She gasped out before promptly doubling over with her hands on her knees and tears pouring down her face, unable to breath.

Kol stood by, amused. A few minutes later, Bella straightened again, still grinning to find Kol wearing his own smile. "What are you smiling at? D'you get over the fact that I compared you to a dragon?"

"You know when someone laughs, and it's infectious?" He waited for Bella to nod then raised an eyebrow.

"Oh." Bella realized. "You were laughing because I was laughing?"

Kol nodded. "Mm-hm. Now, if we just go through here …" He trailed off as he parted some ferns, revealing a shimmering blue lagoon. "Ta-da!" He opened his arms wide as Bella came charging through the grass.

The first thing her eyes fell on was the water, then they took in the brightly coloured flowers and shrubbery that surrounded them. There were Pink Everlasting Daises, Starflowers, Green Bird Flowers, Hammer Orchids, Scarlet Feather Flowers, Queen Triggerplants and even some Royal Bluebells. It was beautiful.

She turned her head when she heard flapping to her right and found Kol laying the blanket down. Strolling over to him, she asked, "So you dragged me up from reading Wuthering Heights to go on a picnic here?"

Kol looked up at her, slightly nervous as to what she thought. He had been lying in bed the previous night when he had decided that he wanted to do something romantic. He wasn't exactly up-to-date on romantic gestures, but had heard Nik and his sister mention before that picnics were romantic so had decided to try that.

She gave him a mischievous smile. "Well, I've never been happier that someone stopped me from reading that book."

Kol breathed a sigh of relief before beckoning her over and opening the basket. As she sat down next to him he started listing out the things in the basket. "We have ham sandwiches, jam sandwiches, salad sandwiches, egg mayo, tuna mayo, salmon and cream cheese, cheese and coleslaw …" He turned to her. "What do you want?"

Bella peered over, looking at the pile of sandwiches in the basket. "Um … salmon and cream cheese please."

Kol took one of the blue-stickered sandwiches out of the basket and handed it to her before taking out a red-stickered sandwich, signifying that it was a ham sandwich.

The couple sat there for a while, munching their way through sandwiches, fruit and other sweet treats before Kol reached into the basket and pulled out the red rose, handing it to Bella with the bottle of champagne and flutes.

"For you madam." He grinned cheekily as Bella smiled. He poured them each a glass as Bella took the rose off him. Kol leaned back as Bella snuggled into his side, both of them sipping from their flutes.

"What's bought this sudden romantic change? Picnic in a lagoon, a rose, champagne …" She trailed off and sat up suddenly in worry. "What did you break?" She accused.

Kol gave a disbelieving laugh. "Nothing! I simply wanted to do something nice for you."

Bella eyed him for a moment before smiling sheepishly. "Well thank you. You're the best husband I could ever ask for."

"Good. 'Cause I'm the only husband you're _ever_ getting." Kol replied. Bella laughed and snuggled closer to him, talking about insignificant things while they sipped their champagne.

Finally, when Kol was getting ready to pack up their things, Bella stood up, eyeing the pool in front of her. "So Kol." She called over her shoulder. "Is this water safe? You know, no hidden currents or snakes or sharks or crocodiles? Or any other thing that could potentially kill a human. Say, like, a jellyfish?"

Kol glanced at her, curious as to why she was asking. "No." He shook his head even though her back was turned to him.

Bella pursed her lips while thoughtfully nodding. Leaning down, she unlaced her boots, took off her socks, and lifted her shirt over her head before unbuttoning and shimmying out of her shorts, revealing that she was still wearing her red bathing suit underneath her clothes. Tip-toeing over to the water, Bella dived in and swam a few metres underwater until she was in the middle of the pool. When she surfaced, she turned back to look for Kol, only to see that he wasn't there.

"Kol? Kol!" She called, treading water in a circle as she looked for him. When her back was to the bank again, she felt someone dunk her underwater. She came up spluttering and coughing as she turned to face a laughing Kol.

"Kol!" She cried, mad. When he just continued laughing at her, she splashed him with water, making him splash her back which resulted in a full-on war between the two. Finally, when Bella couldn't see anymore because of the water hitting her face, she took a deep breath and dunked underwater again, swimming behind Kol. It was as she came up behind him, that she realised he didn't have any clothes on and almost choked.

Surfacing, she dunked him and waited for him to come back up and glare at her as she gave him a stern look.

"Kol Mikaelson, would you care to tell me why you aren't wearing any clothes?" She demanded.

"I don't have my trunks, and I'm not going to get me clothes wet, am I?" Kol returned.

"So you decided to go skinny dipping?!" Bella raised her eyebrows and widened her eyes in a baffled expression.

Kol nodded. "Yep. But it would be _much_ better if you were skinny dipping as well." Kol suddenly got a playful look on his face as he started swimming towards her and she away from him.

"Kol …" She warned. When he just grinned evilly, she tried again. "Kol, don't you dare!"

When he suddenly submerged himself underwater, she screamed and started trying to frantically reach the bank. Now she knew how an animal felt when confronted with a hippo.

Bella gasped as she was pulled under by her husband, wriggling in his grip to get free. It eventually turned into wrestling until Kol got the suit off her, then all it took was a brush of Kol's fingers across her skin and they engaged in a whole 'nother kind of wrestling, packing up their picnic forgotten.

* * *

 **A/N: Some romantic/sexy times between Kol/Bella for you all because it's their honeymoon. Also, don't go annoying snakes unless you're a professional and know how. And I got all my information about the snake from Steve Backshall, so if there's anything wrong blame him.**

 **Let me know what you thought of this chapter, reviews are always welcome.**


	4. Bella's Transition

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Originals or Twilight. Those amazing works of art belong to Julie Plec/L. J. Smith/ The CW and Stephenie Meyer.**

 **Thank you to Louisaxo for Beat-ing this, and to everyone who has favourited/followed/read this book and to everyone who's reviewed.**

* * *

Bella and Kol had been back from their honeymoon for a week and they were currently in their room discussing Bella's transition.

"Kol, I'm ready. We're married, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. We've had our honeymoon and we both agreed that you would turn me once we got back home." Bella raised her arms and gestured around her. "Well we're home."

Kol sighed. "I know but I just think maybe we should wait a while. You know -"

He was cut off by Bella. "No, Kol. I _don't_ know. When I said I wanted to be a vampire, you were _ecstatic_. Now whenever I bring it up, you act like having me by your side forever is the worst fate imaginable. What's going on? Do you not want me to be immortal anymore?"

Kol looked up at her. "No that's not it." He denied. The truth was, he _did_ want Bella to turn but he was scared. There were so many things that could go wrong, she could die without enough blood in her system, they could lose her daylight ring straight after she transitioned, and she could burn, or she simply could not wake up when he killed her for some reason. And he was worried that if she did turn, she would view herself as a monster and end up hating him and herself. He didn't want to lose her but nor did he want her to hate him.

"Then what's going on with you?" Bella questioned, exasperated.

Kol sighed. "I just…" He paused, trying to find a way to tell her his fears. Finally, he stood up and faced her. "Just wait here for one minute." He told her before speeding out of the room and into the living room, where his brothers were, ignoring Bella shouting after him.

Klaus glanced up at him when he entered, chuckling. "Are the married couple already arguing?" He asked sarcastically, running his hands through Cami's hair, who was reading a book with her head in his lap.

"Shut up. I need to talk to you both." Elijah immediately turned his attention away from Hayley, who was sitting cross legged on the floor doing something with some herbs.

"What's the matter, Kol?" He asked, worried. His little brother hardly ever came to them with a problem. At least, not since he was a very little boy.

"It's Bella." He started.

Camille shot up into a sitting position. "She's pregnant!" She exclaimed, getting weird looks from the four other vampires in the room.

"Er, _no_." Kol was the one to stop his gaping first, scrunching his eyes up in confusion that she thought Bella was pregnant. He couldn't have children. "We can't have children."

Camille sighed, as if disappointed with them. "I know that. I was making fun of Klaus here." She grinned at him as Hayley and Elijah laughed, referring to the time, over a year ago when he thought he had gotten her pregnant.

"I need to speak to you later." Klaus grumbled, turning to his youngest brother again.

"Well, you all know that before our wedding she told me that she wanted to turn." He started when they calmed down and waited for them to nod before he continued, "Well, she's told me that she's ready. For me to turn her."

"But that's a good thing." Hayley told him, confused as to why he seemed to be freaking out over that.

"It's what you wanted." Elijah agreed as Camille continued reading her book, having gone back to it after her joke.

"I know. But, what if something happens? You know, what if she doesn't have enough blood in her and she doesn't wake up, or what if she does wake up but hates what she is and ends up hating me too, or what if she …"

He started blurting out all of his thoughts so fast that no one could interject and just simply sat there, staring at him. He started pacing as he listed all his worries, completely unaware that none of his family could understand him.

When he finally stopped pacing and talking, he turned to them expectantly. When no one said anything, he became impatient. "Well?"

"Have you told Bella any of that?" Hayley asked.

Kol stared at her as if she had just grown an extra head. "No. Why would I?"

"You're an idiot." Camille's voice sounded out as she finally looked up from her book. "She's your wife and she loves you. Did you learn nothing when you kept the fact that you two are soulmates from her? You're clearly worried about her, so why not do the sensible thing and, I don't know, _tell her_?"

"Because then _she'll_ be even more worried when it comes to the time for her to transition." Kol explained.

"Well if you keep these things from her then she may decide she doesn't want to be immortal anymore." Camille returned.

Her sentence made Kol pause. _Was him trying to protect her really just pushing her away from him more?_ For once Kol didn't know what to do.

He turned to Klaus, the only one of his family who could understand what he was going through. After all, he freaked out more than Kol when it came to turning Camille. "How did you do it?"

Klaus sighed. "I told Camille how I felt, and when the time came, I made sure that _everything_ was prepared so nothing could go wrong. I made sure I had her daylight ring ready, I did it at night to make sure that when she woke up there wouldn't be any chance of the sun getting to her. I made her drink at least half of the amount of blood in my body so I knew there could be no way she wouldn't wake up. I stocked up a whole mini fridge with all types of blood available in case one type didn't work or one bag wasn't enough. I even brought a human in case she needed blood from the vein. I made sure that the whole house was quiet so that she wouldn't feel too aggravated. Looking back now, I made a big deal over nothing."

"Yep." Cami agreed nonchalantly from beside him, making him throw her a playful glare before he turned back to Kol.

"Look, Kol, long story short, I had nothing to worry about. And neither do you. Just tell Bella how you feel, make sure everything is prepared and relax. Everything will go fine."

Kol stared at him doubtfully before turning to the others in the room. "Any other advice?"

They all shook their heads, Klaus pretty much having covered it, but when Kol turned to leave Hayley's voice stopped him.

"Oh, Kol, by the way. When she's turned you might want to make sure you're stocked up on blood yourself. She won't let you out of the room for hours after she wakes up." The grins on all four of their faces told Kol that Hayley didn't mean Bella would simply want to cuddle.

* * *

Kol returned to his and Bella's room to find his wife sitting on the balcony scowling at the sun.

"Bella?" He called, making her turn around and stand up to face him.

"Yes?" She answered, walking back into the room.

"We need to talk." He started, only to stop as Bella went deathly pale. "Bella?" He questioned, worried. When he didn't get a response from her and she just continued to stare at him, horrified, he thought back over his words and realised what he'd said. He'd made it sound like he was going to ask her for a divorce. "Oh, no, Bella that's not what I meant. It's about your transition." He noticed that a bit more colour came back into her cheeks but not much. He then realised that his words probably didn't bring her that much reassurance, what with how he'd been acting.

"It's not that I don't want you to turn into a vampire because I do, I want that more than anything else in the world." He tried to assure her.

"Then why have you been acting like you don't want it?" She asked, the dejected note in her voice making Kol pull her into his arms.

"Because I'm scared. I'm scared that something will go wrong, that I'll lose you or you'll turn and end up hating me and then you'll leave me." He admitted, feeling his eyes fill with tears as he choked back a sob and clutched her closer.

Bella let Kol hold her, knowing that her husband needed to be reassured that she really was there with him. She had to admit that she was surprised by his confession, she'd never considered that he may be worried about her transition instead of having cold feet. But she could see now that Kol really was scared that he'd lose her in the process of making sure she stayed with him forever and she wanted to do anything she could to make him feel better about the whole situation.

Pulling back from him, she saw that a few tears had managed to slip from his eyes despite his best efforts. Cupping his face, Bella wiped them away with her thumbs before leaning in and kissing him gently. "You are not going to lose me, Kol. My transition will be just the same as any other vampire who's transitioned. And once I'm a vampire, you will never _ever_ lose me. Never. I love you."

Kol didn't seem to be as reassured as she'd hoped, but he nodded and hugged her again before pulling away and explaining what Klaus had suggested.

When he'd finished Bella stifled a laugh. "I don't think we need to do that, Kol. I'm sure one blood bag will be enough and that the curtains will keep the sun out. I also don't think I need to almost drain you before you kill me. I'm sure the normal amount will be enough." She smiled reassuringly at him but when he nodded and gave her a trembling smile, she realised that he wasn't going to be reassured unless they did things his way.

She sighed. "You still want to do as Klaus suggested, don't you?"

When he nodded enthusiastically, she sighed again. "Hurry up and get everything ready then."

She was surprised when he took her engagement ring off her finger before kissing her and zooming out of the room, calling a 'Thanks!' over his shoulder.

She shook her head at her husband's antics before deciding to finish doing some of her course work from college. After all, there was a chance she could die. Best do them now and hand them in just in case.

* * *

Kol sat next to Bella with her engagement/daylight ring on the nightstand next to them with all the curtains closed tightly even though it was night. He had a compelled human waiting for him downstairs, four blood bags full of different blood groups stored in a cooler next to the bed and he was getting ready to bite into his wrist to give her his blood.

His brothers had taken their respective partners out to a movie while Rebekah had gone over to Marcel's, giving the couple their privacy.

"Are you ready?" Kol asked Bella, who he had propped up with pillows in their bed, for the fifth time.

Bella laughed slightly. "Yes, Kol. Are you going to ask me that ten more times before you start to give me your blood?"

Kol ignored her slight jape and swallowed hard, nervous, before biting into his wrist and offering it to Bella who took it and attached her mouth to it, already knowing the drill.

Kol watched anxiously as Bella swallowed his blood and kept his wrist there for a few minutes, making sure she had plenty of his blood in her before pulling away as his wrist healed.

When Bella had wiped the excess blood off her lips, Kol leaned forward and kissed her. "I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too."

Slowly, Kol cradled the back of Bella's neck as he brought his own mouth to her neck, letting his fangs pierce the delicate skin.

When Bella's blood flooded into his mouth Kol moaned, having never tasted blood as good as hers before. He held her tighter as he greedily gulped the rich red liquid down, listening to her heartbeat as it got weaker and weaker until it all together stopped.

Luckily, Kol had enough sense to pull back then, letting his blood work slowly through her veins as he held her close to him, hoping that she would wake up

* * *

A few hours later, Kol jerked back as Bella suddenly gasped and opened her eyes. They flitted around the room before landing on Kol's, who was still next to her.

When her eyes landed on him a relieved smile lit up her face. "Kol." She rasped.

Kol snapped out of his shock and brushed her hair from her forehead. "How do you feel?" He asked, his nerves sky-rocketing.

Bella frowned. "Hungry." She answered.

Kol nodded, happy that so far everything seemed to be working. "That's good." He told her. Leaning over, he slipped her ring on her finger first before pulling out a bag of AB type blood. He helped Bella sit up as she eyed the blood hungrily before handing it to her.

Keeping her eyes locked on his, Bella hesitantly slurped some of the blood up through the straw. She had barely had three sips before she felt a tingling sensation under her eyes and sudden pain shot through her gums where her canine teeth were.

Whining, she thrust the bag at Kol as she clutched at her mouth for a few moments. When she pulled her hand away, Kol saw that her fangs were out and the veins underneath her eyes had risen. She quickly grabbed the bag of blood out of his hand before greedily gulping it down.

When she had finished, she seemed to be embarrassed and wiped her hand over her mouth before turning to Kol.

When her eyes locked with his, Bella felt an odd surge go through her, almost like she had to claim him, and she quickly pulled Kol closer, kissing him hungrily as she tore his clothes off and pulled him onto the bed.

Kol completely forgot about the human downstairs as Bella kissed him, although about an hour later, he remembered what Hayley had said to him earlier that day. He figured it was a soulmate thing.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry if this chapter is really soppy/crappy. I'd had a good day. :D**

 **Let me know what you thought of this chapter, reviews are always welcome.**


	5. The Volturi

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Originals or Twilight. Those amazing works of art belong to Julie Plec/L. J. Smith/ The CW and Stephenie Meyer.**

 **So, given the length of this chapter – a full fourteen pages! – I thought that it would take longer to rewrite this, but surprisingly it didn't. :-)**

 **Thank you to Louisaxo for Beat-ing this, and to everyone who has favourited/followed/read this book and to everyone who's reviewed.**

* * *

Bella and Kol were sat together 3 months later, snuggling. It had been a tough three months, Bella had had a few slip ups (not made better by the fact that Kol viewed nothing wrong with that, whereas Bella was distraught over taking another's life. Thankfully, Cami, Hayley and even Elijah had been there to help her with those moments), and still sometimes had trouble with her heightened emotions. But things were just starting to settle down.

The two were laughing as they goofed around, trying to play 'Thumb War'. Their peace was interrupted by Klaus, Elijah and their respective partners.

"We have a problem." Klaus growled.

Kol sighed angrily and stood up, pissed off that Klaus had interrupted his time with Bella _again._ "Deal with it yourself, Nik. I am sick and tired of you dragging Bella and me into your mess."

Elijah stepped forward, trying to signal Kol to stop but Klaus beat him to it. "That's rich, considering the fact that this time it's your _wife_ who's the problem. If that's your attitude, then don't count on me or Cami helping you." Turning, he sped out of the room. Cami gave them all an apologetic look before following after her boyfriend, hoping to calm him and convince him to change his mind. Kol and Bella were going to need all the help they could get against this enemy.

Bella stood up, her guilt almost swallowing her whole. Kol sensed this and his anger at his brother increased; Nik _knew_ Bella was still struggling with her emotions, how did he expect her to react to him storming out in one of his moods?

Going over to her, he wrapped his arms around her. "It's not your fault." He knew that nothing he could say would possibly make her feel better, but he tried anyway.

Bella nodded slightly, not saying anything as the last time she had argued with Kol about her feeling guilty he had threatened to vervain her and lock her in Marcel's 'garden'. She knew that he wasn't serious, but she had decided at that moment to keep her mouth shut in future situations.

"So, what's the problem that Klaus was talking about?" She asked the recently married couple in front of her.

Elijah seemed hesitant to tell her, automatically making Bella suspicious. Thankfully, Hayley had no problem telling them. That was one of the things that Bella loved about Hayley – she had absolutely no qualms about telling it straight to someone's face. Whether it be good or bad news she was delivering, she always told them without hesitation.

"It's the Volturi."

The words sent chills down Bella's spine. _The Volturi._ She had heard that name before, on the day of her eighteenth birthday, just before everything had gone to pot.

" _Well, I wasn't going to live without you." He rolled his eyes as if that fact were childishly obvious. "But I wasn't sure how to_ do _it – I knew Emmett and Jasper would never help … so I was thinking maybe I would go to Italy and do something to provoke the Volturi."_

 _I didn't want to believe he was serious, but his golden eyes were brooding, focused on something far away in the distance as he contemplated ways to end his own life. Abruptly, I was furious._

" _What is a_ Volturi _?" I demanded._

" _The Volturi are a family," he explained, his eyes still remote. "A very old, very powerful family of our kind. They are the closest thing our world has to a royal family, I suppose. Carlisle lived with them briefly in his early years, in Italy, before he settled in America – do you remember the story?"_

" _Of course I remember."_

 _I would never forget the first time I'd gone to his home, the huge white mansion buried deep in the forest beside the river, or the room where Carlisle – Edward's father in so many real ways – kept a wall of paintings that illustrated his personal history. The most vivid, most wildly colourful canvas there, the largest, was from Carlisle's time in Italy. Of course I remembered the calm quartet of men, each with the exquisite face of a seraph, painted into the highest balcony overlooking the swirling mayhem of colour. Though the painting was centuries old, Carlisle – the blonde angel – remained unchanged. And I remembered the three others, Carlisle's early acquaintances. Edward had never used the name_ Volturi _for the beautiful trio, two black-haired, one snow white. He'd called them Aro, Caius, and Marcus, nighttime patrons of the arts …_

" _Anyway, you don't irritate the Volturi," Edward went on, interrupting my reverie. "Not unless you want to die – or whatever it is we do." …_

She had changed the subject then, telling him that he wasn't allowed to die, no matter what happened to her.

Shaking her thoughts away, she looked at the three other vampires in the room. "We need to find Carlisle Cullen." She told them, causing Kol to shift uncomfortably as Elijah gave him an incredulous look.

"You didn't tell her?" He whispered to his brother, but Bella heard him.

"Tell me what?" She butted in, glaring at Kol, who was managing to look guiltier and guiltier by the second.

Kol looked at her for a second before his eyes darted around the room, as if he was looking for an exit. Stepping in front of him, Bella made him look at her before asking again. " _Tell me what?_ " She repeated.

Drawing in a deep breath to steel himself (God, _he_ was going to lose his most precious asset in a moment!), Kol met her gaze and admitted, "We can't speak to Carlisle Cullen."

Bella's eyes narrowed. "And why is that?"

"Because – because he's … dead?"

Time seemed to freeze as the three other vampires glared at Kol.

"How do you know he's dead, Kol?" Bella gave him a disturbing smile, one that told him she already knew how and just wanted him to admit it.

"So, you see … I may have … Remember when I proposed to you and Fuckward turned up?" He waited for Bella to nod before continuing. "Well, Bekah, Nik and I went to find him. When we got to the little hotel room that they were all staying at, I may have gotten really mad and … encouraged … Nik and Bekah to kill the others while I made him watch _before_ I ripped his nuts off."

He just managed to dodge Bella as she flew at him.

"You fool, Kol Mikaelson. The only one who can help us with the Volturi is Carlisle, he spent decades with them – and you killed him! What are we supposed to do now?!" She flew at him again, but this time he grabbed her wrists and spun her so that her back was pinned to his chest.

"Bella, calm down. We'll figure it out. Our kind are stronger than them, if we rally enough allies then we'll beat them no problem."

Bella thrashed until he loosened his grip, enabling her to turn and face him. "Do you know anything about them?"

Kol looked sheepish. "We know that they rule the Cold Ones, and that there are three of them … and that they live in Italy and …" He trailed off, trying to think what a Cold One he'd once tortured the information out of told him.

Elijah sighed, stepping up to speak to Bella. "I remember mother mentioning them when she came back from the dead. She said that there were three of them – Aro, Marcus and Caius. They each have their own personal guard, of which there are various rankings. The higher the ranking, the more their opinion or advice is valued.

"Then you have their army – made up of vampires with unique gifts who would all die for the Volturi – whether that be because they are extremely loyal to them or they're being forced to because of some kind of threat..." He sighed before continuing. "Whenever they embark on a quest, mysterious witnesses always turn up, claiming that they have seen the accused committing the crime. It almost always ends with the Volturi not even needing to fight, the evidence being too damnable."

Bella raised her eyebrow. "So basically we're screwed. That's good to know."

Elijah bestowed a comforting smile on her. "Not necessarily. If we call upon Marcel and his vampires, the werewolves, what few Hybrids are left, the vampires who are sired to us _and_ the witches – who hate them more than us – we may have a chance. Plus any creature that turns up after they've heard what we are doing. We may have a chance of winning."

Klaus was suddenly standing in the room again, Cami standing next to him. "We are _not_ asking Marcel for help."

Everyone in the room sighed. A few weeks previous, Marcel had started dating Rebekah, a fact which Klaus was _not_ very happy with.

"Brother -"

"No, Elijah! We are not asking that sleaze ball -"

He was cut off by Kol. "I don't care what you want anymore, Nik! We need him. He and his vampires could sway the battle in our favour. I am not going to risk the chance of Bella dying all because of you and your stupid pride!"

Everyone in the room tensed as Klaus stared at his youngest brother, surprised by his outburst. In all his years Kol had never spoken so dominantly to Klaus. Yes, he had argued with Nik and often gone against him, defying his orders, but he had never asserted his own authority over Klaus – who was _always_ the Alpha.

Klaus took a step closer to Kol, bringing himself to his full height in an attempt to intimidate his brother. It didn't work, Kol matched his posture until they were chest to chest, glaring at each other. When neither backed down, they started growling, just a low rumbling in their chests at first before it became so loud that Bella felt the vibrations in her bones.

Fed up, she stepped forward and split them up. "Okay, that's enough of the dick measuring contest, we have work to do. The Volturi are coming, and since _someone_ -" Here she threw a look at Kol before continuing, "killed Carlisle Cullen, we have to be as prepared to fight them as we can. We don't have time for you two to argue."

Turning to Klaus and Cami she was as blunt as one could be. "Are you two going to help us, or not?"

She stared at them as the entire room waited for their answer.

Klaus and Cami shared a glance. They each knew what the other thought. Cami wanted to help Bella and Kol, especially as they were now her family. Besides, she had heard stories about the Volturi. If they really _were_ coming for Kol and Bella, then the two were going to need all the help they could get.

On the other hand, Klaus surprisingly (or not, depending on where you stood) _didn't_ want to help his brother and sister-in-law. His pride wouldn't allow him to work alongside Marcel (not after the trickery he had played on him, making Klaus think he was dead), and after the way Kol had spoken to him, he didn't think they deserved his help.

But he also knew, that no matter what he said Cami would agree, and he couldn't have her out there by herself without him there to make sure she was safe.

So that really only left one other option.

"We'll help you. But I am not working with Marcel." He stared unblinkingly at Bella, daring her to defy _him_.

So, she did. "If you're going to fight, then you will have to get along with him. At least temporarily. We need his numbers."

Nik instantly started snarling at her. "Listen little girl, I am _not_ going to fight alongside that -"

"Now, now, Klaus, there are ladies present." A new voice interrupted, and they all turned to see Marcel walking in behind Bekah.

"We heard you needed our help." Rebekah said, smiling sweetly.

Klaus growled at them, and stared around the room, wondering who had told them.

"It was me." Cami spoke beside him, already knowing that he was going to be angry.

But when Klaus turned to stare at her, it wasn't anger in his eyes. It was betrayal. Sighing, Cami towed him off to speak to him in private while Elijah explained the situation to the two newcomers.

"You called him." Klaus spoke first. "You called him even though you knew that I don't want him here."

"Because your little brother and his wife need him." Cami cut in, stopping him from going off on a tirade. "I know that there is a lot of bad history between you, but Kol and Bella need him. You've met the Volturi, when you were turned, you know how they operate. If your family has any hope of defeating their forces, we need all the help we can get."

"We can't trust him. He betrayed me and mine once before, who's to say that he won't do it again?!" Klaus exclaimed, outraged.

"He sold you out to Mikael because he wanted to be with your sister and you wouldn't let him!" Cami cried, her own frustration starting to get the best of her. "If you'd just accepted them, then neither of them would have felt so trapped!"

Klaus growled but stayed quiet.

"When this is all over, you and Marcel are going to sit down and talk this entire thing over, but for now, you are going to get over yourself, keep your mouth shut, and work with him to protect your sister-in-law. Because if you don't, so help me I will not speak to you ever again."

With that she flounced away, leaving an annoyed Klaus behind her. Annoyed because he knew that he'd do as Cami wanted, just to please her. And because he wanted to protect his brother and his wife.

* * *

Bella, Kol and Elijah all sat in the library, researching as much as they could find on the Volturi and discussing their plan of offense. Rebekah and Marcel had gone to speak to his vampires, Klaus and Cami had gone to see the Hybrids and Hayley had disappeared to see the werewolves out in the Bayou.

"I don't know much about military movements, but what if we were to pair up? Have two people work together, so that if one gets in trouble, there'll be another to help them out." Bella suggested.

Elijah considered it for a moment. "It could work, if we were to pair up people who worked well together … But we'd still be lacking numbers …"

They all lapsed into silence again, trying to think of a way to add to their ranks.

Suddenly, Kol spoke up, breaking the silence. "What about your friend?"

When Bella looked up, she found him looking at her, frowning.

"What friend?"

"The one who turns into a wolf? Your" Here he raised his hands and made quotation marks. "'Best friend'."

Immediately, Bella shook her head. "No. I am not dragging Jake into this." When Kol went to argue she glared at him. "I said no! He phoned me yesterday to tell me that he finally found his imprint. You do know what an imprint is, right? It's like _his_ soulmate. Do you know how long he's wanted to find his soulmate? No. I do. When we were teens he constantly talked about finding that one special girl out there, even before he found out he could shift into a wolf.

"If he comes here to fight, there's a possibility that he could die – that the entire pack could die! Their other halves would lose the one person who they know is perfectly suited to them, and the pack would never even get to say a proper goodbye to them! I mean, Sam and Emily are expecting a baby! They're finally starting their family, and you want to risk tearing him away from that? No. Absolutely not happening." She shook her head fiercely, breathing hard from her rant.

She and Jake had been best friends all their lives – even when she had stopped going to Forks. They'd kept in contact, constantly writing letters to each other as well as the odd phone call when their schedules matched. He'd even sometimes come up to Arizona when Charlie visited her.

She knew when they'd been younger he'd had a crush on her, but she'd made it abundantly clear that it wasn't platonic. He'd continued to try for a few years, but when she'd starting dating Edward, he finally accepted that he and her weren't meant to be and had moved on.

They'd remained friends though. In fact, it had been Jake who'd helped bring her out of her funk about three weeks after Edward had left. Jake had helped her see that there was more to life than _him_ , that she still had friends and family who cared about her, and that that was all she needed.

He'd even been thrilled when she'd phoned him to tell him that she was engaged to Kol, despite the fact that he was a vampire.

No, Jake had stood by Bella her entire life; dragging him into her mess was a poor way to repay him, and something that she wouldn't do.

* * *

Kol snuck away from the house, Bella's phone in his hand. When he was a safe distance away, he started scrolling through her contact list, searching for the 'J's.

When he found the name he was looking for, he quickly pressed the phone symbol and lifted it to his ear, listening to the dial tone.

"Hello?" A groggy voice answered.

Kol allowed himself a grim smile. Bella really needed to put a lock on her phone.

* * *

Bella walked down the stairs, fuming. She'd specifically told Kol _not_ to call them, but that's exactly what he'd done! She'd smelled them as soon as they entered New Orleans. While their scent didn't burn her nose like it had the Cold Ones, they still had a particularly potent smell.

Storming into the room, she was waylaid by two scorching hot arms wrapping around her in a hug and pulling her into a firm chest.

"Bella!" A joyful voice exclaimed in her ear.

Despite herself, a smile spread across her face and she brought her own arms to wrap around the man's back. "Jake." She replied.

Pulling away from each other, Jake stepped back so that she didn't have to crane her neck so far to see him.

"You don't stink." Was Jake's first sentence.

Bella raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

Smiling, Jake repeated. "You don't smell. I can be around you without wanting to scratch my nose off."

Realizing he was referring to the Cold Ones' smell, she laughed. "Oh. Well neither do you."

"Of course, we don't smell." A teasingly annoyed voice form behind her said. Turning, she found herself face to face with Quil, who was flanked by the rest of the pack.

With a squeal, she threw herself at the brawny boy, wrapping her arms around him. She'd missed the Pack, especially Jake, Quil, Embry and Paul, who she'd become close with after she'd discovered their secret.

Embry and Quil had been a package that had come with Jake, even before their Shapeshifter genes kicked in, so they'd formed a tentative bond when they were all kids, which had only grown stronger as they all matured.

Her friendship with Paul had been the biggest shock to anybody. It was well known that Paul had quite a temper, and that he hated all things related to 'leeches' as he called he Cold Ones. When Bella had been welcomed as a part of the Pack, everyone had expected him to hate her, given the fact that she'd dated one. At first, he had been rather hostile to her, but that had all changed when he discovered she held just as much hate for them as he did. They'd quickly bonded over their dislike for the species, often trying to one up the other by thinking of the worst nicknames possible for the red-eyed vamps.

She pulled back from the wolves and started firing questions quicker than they could answer. "How are you all? How's Claire? And Emily, Rachel and Kim? Oh, and Cody?!"

Laughing, Paul ruffled her hair affectionately. "Everyone's fine. Emily and Sam are expecting their first baby; Kim has gone to the local college, so as not to be too far from Jared, who she has now moved in with. Rachel and I are doing good at the moment, we're also thinking about moving in with each other, it's gotten kind of annoying how Jake keeps throwing me out in the mornings." He smirked as his new Alpha growled.

"Claire's just gotten into the phase where it's all about pink princesses." Quil interrupted, trying to keep the peace. As fun as it was to see Jake put Paul in his place back in La Push, the Pack had gone to the Abattoir for a reason, those two fighting would just prolong battle plans.

"Oh, you should have seen her the other day, she convinced Quil to let her dress him up as a fairy princess, pink tutu and tiara and all." Embry added, snickering as Quil's russet skin took on a red tinge. "In fact," he continued, "I think I may have some pictures on my phone. I'll show them to you later."

"You better." Bella grinned, before turning to Jake. "And Cody?" She repeated.

He got a far away look in his eye, like he was relieving something, and a dopey smile came across his face. "She's amazing. She lives just on the edge of the reservation, she went away travelling with her dad for a while, but now she's come back to take care of her grandma.

"She's so beautiful, Bella, and she's so kind and understanding. When ever I have to take off suddenly, she doesn't demand to know where I'm going, she just accepts that and lets me go. And she does this cute little thing where, when she laughs, she gets a dimple in her right cheek, and she squeaks a little bit, and when she laughs for a really long time, her face turns this really beautiful shade of pink … oh, and when we kiss she does this thing with her tongue-"

"She asked how she was Jake, not all the dirty details. It's bad enough that we all have to experience it in your head, let's not make poor Bella here suffer too." Embry teased.

"Embry's right, Jake. We came here for a reason, remember?" Paul prompted.

Shaking himself, Jake blinked and looked up again, all hint of haziness gone from his gaze.

Nodding, he cleared his throat. "You're right, Paul."

Furrowing her eyebrows, Bella turned to him. "Yes, what _are_ you doing here?"

Jake smirked. "Kol invited me and the Pack. Said you had some trouble with a couple leeches and that we needed to come and help you kill them."

Bella turned on her husband with narrowed eyes, feeling her heightened anger get the best of her.

"I told you not to call him." She growled, Kol taking a step back as she stepped forward.

"I know." He replied, drawing himself up. "I know what you wanted, but I don't give a fuck what you want. You are the one in danger, and it's _you_ who are my priority."

Bella stared at him, too furious for words. Her mouth opened and closed a few times as she tried to find the right words to express how angry she was. Eventually, she just shook her head and lunged at him.

Kol let out a noise of surprise as she landed on him, wrapping her hands around his neck.

"I'm going to throttle you, Kol!" She screamed.

Hayley and Rebekah sped over, yanking a thrashing Bella away from him. Klaus watched on, chuckling as the wolves stared with wide eyes.

They'd never seen her so … furious before. If they were honest, it was a little bit terrifying. _She_ was a little bit terrifying.

Bekah, Hayley and Cami all dragged Bella into another room, shutting the door behind them. Kol stood back up, rubbing his neck.

Klaus strolled over to him, chuckling. "You know how to get her riled up, don't you? One of these days maybe she really will kill you."

Kol glared at his older brother, embarrassment flooding him. His entire family – not to mention a bunch of strangers – had just seen him totally humiliated.

The wolves lowered their eyes, not wanting to anger the Original any further. An awkward atmosphere hung in the air until the girls came back out, Bella in front. As she passed by Kol, she snapped his neck before anyone could do anything, before continuing past like nothing had happened.

Reaching the table, Bella immediately started discussing their 'battle plans'. Everyone else sat down tentatively, afraid of making her angry again. Jake glanced over at Kol's prone body, wondering if anyone was going to bother to remove it. He knew the Pack would feel much better.

"So, does anyone know what we're going to do when the leeches turn up?" Paul asked, breaking the silence and getting everyone's minds back on the reason they were there. As interesting as Bella's new life was, he had an imprint at home that he wanted to get back to as soon as possible.

"Well, we've talked to the witches, they've come up with a plan. When the Volturi turns up, some of their strongest in defence magic will put up a shield around them, preventing anyone from attacking them, while the rest start a fire to help us kill the Volturi's forces."

"But what about us? Won't the fire get some of ours too?" Paul asked.

Bella shook her head, having already discussed this with the witches. "I've already discussed this with them. It won't be a natural fire, it'll be one they are able to manipulate. If one of us gets too close to a fire they'll part it or make it curve around so that it doesn't touch us."

The wolves raised their eyebrows, surprised and slightly sceptical at the witches' power. They may have been aware of vampires and werewolves, but witches were never something that appeared in any of their legends.

"These witches, you sure they'll be able to do it? Their powers won't … run out?" Embry asked.

Elijah shook his head. "They use ancestral power. Their ancestors are consecrated here, so long as they're in New Orleans, they'll have an unlimited amount of power, because they're linked and so have those dead witches powers." He explained.

The wolves still looked sceptical.

"Trust me." Bella spoke up. They all looked at her. " _This will work_."

The pack of wolves stared at her a moment longer before Jake nodded slowly, the rest following their Alpha's moves a little reluctantly.

There was silence once more before Jake broke it.

"We need to come up with a battle plan." Jake stated finally. "You've got one worked out with the witches, but what's the plan when it comes to hand-to-hand combat?"

"Well, I was talking to Kol and Elijah in the library, and I think we should pair up." Bella spoke up, making everyone look up at her.

"Pair up?" Hayley asked.

Nodding, Bella replied, "Yeah. If we're paired up, then we can always have someone watching our back, which should help minimalize our loss in numbers, right?"

The others in the room frowned, thinking it over.

"It could work …" Klaus mused slowly,

"Two's always better than one." Cami chipped in, ever positive.

Quil nodded. "Ok, so we pair up. Then what?"

Jake looked over at Bella, a grin on his face that matched hers. "We fight." He answered, looking over at his pack.

* * *

Out in the woods by the Bayou, the four Originals stood with their respective partners, awaiting the arrival of the Volturi.

The 'shifters stood to the left of them, just in front of the group of witches who had agreed to help them. To the right of the witches, stood the vampires, and next to them were the 'wolves and hybrids, all grouped in together.

"There." Klaus pointed, allowing the others to see what looked like a dark cloud sweeping toward them.

They had arrived.

Bella had seen a painting of the Volturi once, when she was still with Edward. It may have been only once, but she'd never forgotten them. The one Edward had called Aro, was heading them, standing slightly in front of the other two. He had short dark brown hair and a twisted smile on his face. Even though he appeared to be the youngest, it was quite clear to _everybody_ that _he_ was the one in charge.

To the left of him, was another man with dark hair; Bella remembered he was called Marcus. She also remembered that Marcus had lost his mate – at the hands of Aro, no less – from the research they'd done two days previous. The grief had aged him, making him look older than his physical years. She imagined that he would never look as old as he _really_ was.

On the opposite side, was a man with snowy white hair. He looked to be the oldest, with features more mature than his other companions. His red eyes were just as milky as the others, and his skin looked just as fine and washed out, but it was the look in his eyes that made Bella worried. It reminded her of the looks serial killers got when they were about to make a kill. That sense of sick enjoyment mixed with adrenaline and manic delight.

Bella turned her eyes to their Guard, scanning them. She stopped short when she came across a familiar head of bronze hair. Edward.

Turning to look at Kol, she saw that he too had seen him. Kol looked back at her grimly.

Given the numbers of the Volturi and somewhat lack of skill on their side, he was starting to think that this fight might not be as simple as he originally suspected.

It wasn't the sight of Edward that set him on edge, that git was of no threat to him or his family. In fact, none of the Cold Ones were a particular threat to his family, but the number of the Volturi combined with their witnesses would pose quite the problem toward their own 'army'. He himself didn't particularly care about them, but he knew that Bella would be devastated if any of the 'shifters were to get hurt, and if anyone else were injured her guilt would suffocate her.

The Volturi stopped opposite them, Aro in the front.

"Ah. The Mikaelsons. So lovely to see you again." His voice was soft and light, like a breeze blowing against Bella's skin.

"What are you doing here, Aro?" Elijah said impatiently.

Aro's grin slipped from his face. His eyes slid to Bella. "This boy, the Cullen," He held out his left hand and gestured to Edward to come forward. "has informed us of a human who knows of our existence. That one, there." He pointed at Bella, unaware of her new vampire status.

"Our kind have an agreement with yours. Neither messes with the other's retribution or laws. Based on that agreement, she is ours. Hand her over, and we won't start a war with you."

The Mikaelsons looked around at each other, wondering why the man hadn't realised that Bella was a vampire.

Kol stepped forward. "No."

The three kings stared at him.

"What?" The blonde one raised his eyebrow, a deadly soft tone to his voice.

Kol stared back at him, straight in the eyes. "No." He repeated, loud and clear, and everyone in the clearing tensed up. "First of all, Bella is no longer a human, she is one of us." The three kings raised their eyebrows at this, and Edward looked like the news physically pained him.

"Secondly, you just threatened my soulmate, something that I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill you for.

"And thirdly, you dared to speak to us like we were one of your lackeys. To let you go would suggest to people that they could do the same. We can't let that happen, can we brothers?" He turned to Klaus and Elijah.

Rebekah cleared her throat, miffed at being left out. Smirking, Kol turned to her. "And sister."

Smiling pleasantly at him, she answered, "No, brother. You're quite right."

Turning back to the Volturi, the family waited to see what they would do.

The Volturi, having never fought any true vampires before, let alone the Mikaelsons, were confident in their abilities to defeat them and take Bella.

After sharing a look with Caius, Aro turned back to face the force before them. "If you won't give us the girl, then we'll just have to take her."

As he finished speaking, he raised his arms, and his own forces charged suddenly, in sync as if there was some telepathic connection between them all.

Instantly the witches jumped into action, a select few of them putting up a protective barrier around themselves as the rest chanted together, a fire sweeping around the forest to help deal with the Cold Ones.

Some of the members of the Volturi's Guard took a cautionary step back, including Edward, unsettled by the sudden appearance of a fire so fierce.

As soon as the fire sprang up, the Mikaelsons charged forward, the 'shifters, 'wolves, hybrids and vampires right behind them as the Volturi's forces rose to meet them.

Bella and Kol worked together, quickly creating a semi-circle around them of body pieces that were soon consumed by the fire. Looking around, Bella was pleased to see people sticking to the plan.

At the sound of a pained howl, Bella spun around, checking who it was. A giant wolf, grey in colour – Bella thought it was Paul – was on the ground, writhing and whining as a blonde little girl stood over him. Just as she was about to go over and help him, another wolf, this time an off white one leaped over, snapping the blonde girl's head off and throwing it in the fire while Paul got up, savagely tearing the body into pieces.

Bella's momentary distraction stopped her from noticing a Cold One sneak up behind her, having already gotten past Kol.

"Bella!" Kol screamed, turning to check on her.

Bela turned around, unprepared to find a man reaching for her chest to rip out her heart. Kol was trying to get to her, but was fighting off three people, unable to reach her in time. Just as he was certain that he was about to watch _his_ other half die, a great, russet wolf jumped towards them, knocking the bulky man over and ripping him up.

The man on the ground screamed, trying desperately to puncture the wolf's skin, but Jake dealt with him quickly, tossing him into the fire when he'd finished.

"Thanks Jake." Bella said quietly, receiving a quick nod in response before he leaped over to Quil, the wolf he'd been paired up with.

Speeding over to her husband, Bella quickly helped him deal with the woman he was fighting, before Kol pulled her to him tight, kissing her despite the fact they were in the middle of a battlefield.

"OI!" They broke apart to find Klaus glaring at them, Cami at his side. "Put her down Kol, there'll be time for that later!"

Still glaring, he yanked Cami out of the way as a tall man lunged for her, biting into the man's neck, extremely pissed off that his soulmate had been threatened.

Quickly moving on, the two started fighting once again, this time with renewed vigour.

With the witches helping control the fire to sweep through the Cold Ones, often taking multiple ones out at a time, the fight didn't last much longer, with very few casualties on their side.

By then, Bella and Kol were closer to the three kings and Edward. The four stared at them, surprise showing on the faces of the three kings as Edward looked on in trepidation. He'd never thought that he would lose _again_. He'd thought for sure that with the Volturi on his side, he'd finally be able to get rid of the Originals and break Bella free of whatever mind manipulation they'd used on her.

Lunging first, Bella jumped for Edward, kicking his feet out from under him, but he was quick to get back up, taking a defensive stance.

"I don't want to hurt you Bella!" He shouted at her.

"Well I do!" She shouted back, before leaping forward again, managing to get a grip on his left hand, and throwing that in the fire closest to them.

Deciding to fight back in a non-aggressive way, Edward kicked out at her left leg, intending to make her lose her balance so that he could knock her out. He didn't _want_ to hurt her, but if she insisted on fighting him, then he had to defend himself.

Bella saw his leg move, though and flipped over him, wrapping her arms around his neck and beginning to pull. Lifting his arms, Edward wrapped his hand around her wrist, using his strength to pry her arms apart.

Using the leverage, he flipped her over onto her back with him straddling her hips, arms pinning her own above her head. It was such an intimate position, and Bella felt disgust rise in her as she realised that. Being in this position with him felt wrong.

Raising her leg between his, she smashed her knee into the back of his thigh, the force knocking a chunk out of his leg. Edward cried out in pain, his grip loosening. It was only for a second, but that second was all she needed.

Wrenching her hands from his, she flipped them so that he was pushed against a tree with her holding him there by the throat.

She growled at him. "This is for attacking my family."

Not giving him a chance to answer back, she pushed him harder against the tree. The sound of metal tearing ripped through the clearing as Bella removed his head from his body and tossed it in the fire, his body quickly following.

Breathing hard, she turned away from the fire and made her way back to Kol, who had been joined by the others.

Stepping forward, the Mikaelsons stared at the three kings (none of who had moved, watching the fight between Edward and Bella with interest. They had no need to fear dying, after all they were arrogant.), two of which had astonished looks on their faces. The other seemed to just be bored.

Elijah darted forward first, quickly dealing with Marcus, who welcomed his death, as Rebekah and Klaus went for Caius, while Kol and Bella blocked Aro from helping either of his 'brothers'.

Klaus and Rebekah fought well together, giving Caius a run for his money. Even though he'd been dubbed the 'King of War' he was no match for those two. However, he still decided to fight his best, and may have stood a chance if it weren't for Klaus' venom coated teeth.

Aro stood there stunned, as his two closest allies were killed. "How …?" He whispered, not seeming to understand what had happened.

Working together, Bella and Kol were able to dispose of Aro quicker than the others. He seemed too stunned to put up much of a fight.

When the three kings had fallen, their forces stopped fighting, most of them seeming to be waking up out of some kind of spell. Looking around themselves and seeing the carnage that had so recently happened, most of them turned tail and fled. The few that didn't, retook their fighting stances, Chelsea's manipulation of their bonds so strong that even when their kings were dead, they would still fight.

Huffing in irritation, Bella retook her fighting stance, the other Mikaelsons copying her. There was only a handful of Cold Ones left, and the Mikaelsons, along with a few of the best wolves – namely Jake, Paul, and Leah. Quil and Embry helped too – dealt with them quickly.

Staring around at the fires which were sending purple plumes of smoke up into the air, they all allowed themselves to relax slightly. The fight was over.

Walking over to the witches, Klaus and Elijah conversed with them for a minute or two, resulting in the witches looking annoyed but reluctantly nodding.

Strolling back over to them, Klaus grinned, wrapping his arm around Cami. "Let's go home." He told his family.

* * *

Standing in the courtyard of the Mikaelson home, Bella clutched tightly onto Jake.

"You gotta let me go sometime, Bells." Jake chuckled.

"I'll only let you go on the condition that you promise to keep in touch and come visit me again – soon."

"I promise." He swore.

Sighing, Bella released him, stepping back. "Take care of yourself and Cody. And let me know as soon as there are little Jake or Cody's running around, ya here?" She teased.

Jake blushed, a shy smile curving his mouth. "I can't wait until we have kids." He whispered to her.

Nodding, Bella glanced over at Kol from the corner of her eye. "I get it."

Following her gaze, Jake questioned "Do _you_ want kids?"

Turning back to face him, Bella shook her head, a little sadly. "I never did before. But now that I'm with Kol, I can understand why other women wants kids. And if we were in a different situation, I'd want them. But I gave up the opportunity to have kids when I decided that I wanted to stay with him, even before I was turned."

Jake looked at her for a little longer. "Don't stress over it. It'll all work out." He assured her.

Smiling, Bella nodded. "You're right. And in the meantime, you have to make up for what I can't." She grinned cheekily at him.

"OI! Jake you coming? Some of us have people to get back to, you know?" Paul hollered.

Smiling at each other one more time, Jake joined his pack.

"You guys behave!" Bella shouted at the pack as they walked away, getting cheeky grins in return.

"We make no promises!" Quil yelled back.

Chuckling, Bella shook her head as Kol came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"You okay, darling?" He murmured, littering kisses down her neck.

Smiling, Bella answered "Never better."

* * *

 **A/N: There you go, she finally finds out about the Cullens 6 months later.**

 **The big passage in** _Italics_ **(her flashback) is taken out of New Moon, pages 19 & 20.**

 **There is a Poll on my profile that I would appreciate you guys talking a look at, because I can't upload the next chapter until everybody's voted on that. It's regarding the thing Bella and Jacob talk about in this chapter. ;-)**

 **Let me know what you thought of this chapter, reviews are always welcome.**

 **Next chapter up … as soon as I finish writing it. ^_^**


	6. The Mystic Falls Gang

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Originals or Twilight. Those amazing works of art belong to Julie Plec/L. J. Smith/ The CW and Stephenie Meyer.**

 **Thank you to Louisaxo for Beat-ing this, and to everyone who has favourited/followed/read this book and to everyone who's reviewed.**

* * *

Bella stared at the group in front of her. She couldn't believe what they were asking. She couldn't believe that they were even asking what they were.

It had to be a joke, that was the only explanation, it was all some kind of weird joke. After all, who in their right mind would go to a family that they'd betrayed _repeatedly_ and then ask for their help?

Alas, it wasn't a prank, and the threesome in front of the Mikaelson family truly did want - _expect_ \- their help.

"You do realise what you're asking of us?" Bella asked slowly, staring at them as though they'd suddenly grown an extra head.

"Yes." 'Elena' nodded, what appeared to be a sympathetic expression on her face. "I know that this is a lot to ask. But you have to help us."

"No we don't." Bella said bluntly.

"Er, yes, you do," the blonde girl to the left of Elena scoffed.

" _No_ , we don't." Bella repeated. "This 'Stefan' means nothing to us. Why should we travel 938 miles to deal with something that isn't going to have any impact on our lives?" She then added as an afterthought, "And who are you anyway?"

The blonde gaped at her, before stuttering, "Caroline Forbes. And, well, Stefan was Klaus' friend. He won't turn his back on him, and you won't let him come alone."

"You put far too much faith in Nik, darling." Kol snarked at her, coming up to wrap his arm around Bella.

"No way." Everyone's attention turned to the raven-haired man on Elena's other side. "You got yourself someone to actually date you? Or is she just so good in the sack you don't wanna let her go yet?" He smirked at Kol for a split second before he was pinned against the wall.

"You'd best keep your tongue in line, lest I be forced to pull it out Damon." Klaus warned, an amused glimmer in his eyes.

He and Bella may not always get along, but no one spoke about his sister like that.

Even though his windpipe was being crushed, Damon smirked at Klaus. "Or are you the reason she's still around? Is she warming your bed too? What, do you share now?"

Kol snarled, shoving past Klaus and lunging for Damon. Elijah, thinking quickly, rushed forward to restrain Kol, while Hayley and Cami stepped up next to a blushing Bella.

"How dare you!" Exclaimed Bella. "Not that it's _any_ of your business, but I'm Kol's wife, Bella Mikaelson. And even if I did have some kind of threesome relationship with them, which, ew, by the way, I don't want to even _think_ about Klaus naked - it's better than stealing my brother's girl. Or being the whore who pitted to brothers against each other." She turned to Elena, wearing a smirk Rebekah would have been proud of.

"Hey!" Caroline stepped forward, firing up to her friend's defence as Elena's doe eyes shone with hurt. "You have no right to talk to her like that, you have no idea -"

"Enough of this talk." Klaus suddenly exclaimed. "It's boring me." He turned to the three people in front of him. "You have come here asking for our help, yet insulted myself, my brother and his wife. Why should we help you after the things you have said?"

"Look you're right." Elena stepped forward, clearly trying to play peacemaker. "You don't have a reason to help us. Stefan burned the bridge to you a long time ago, and so you have no reason to help him, but I am begging you to help us. We've tried everything and nothing's working, he's set in self-destruct mode."

"You told us why you want us to help you, but not why we _should_." Hayley spoke up, just as wary as Bella. She'd never liked the people in front of her, she didn't trust them as far as she could throw them.

"Maybe we should all go and discuss this." Cami suggested, resting a comforting hand on Klaus' arm. "You three can wait here," she added to the group in front of her, not missing the way Caroline's eyes zeroed in on how close she and Klaus were.

The Mikaelsons retreated into a back room, waiting for Rebekah and Marcel to show up.

* * *

When Rebekah and Marcel finally showed up, and after they'd been filled in on the situation, the Mikaelsons started discussing (bickering about) what they should do.

Bella, Kol, Hayley and Marcel were the only ones who thought they should send the Mystic Falls gang on their way, and with every argument as to why the family should help the group, Bella was wound up tighter until she snapped.

"I really think we should help them," Cami reiterated. "After everything your family did to them, it's the least you can do."

"You can't be serious!" Bella exclaimed, finally bursting. " _None_ of you owe them _anything_! They tried to kill you - _did_ kill you -" She waved her arm at Kol, feeling him shift uncomfortably behind her. "And yet as soon as they say jump, you're asking 'how high'?"

Klaus sat up straighter in his armchair. "Bella, you have to understand, Stefan was my friend, as close to me as a brother at one point -"

"I don't care! He's freaked out because of them, they caused this. It doesn't concern us, let them deal with it." She stated firmly.

"Bella …" Cami stepped toward the younger woman, trying to soothe her. She was clearly agitated.

"No Cami! Nothing you can say is going to change how I feel!" She exclaimed.

"Bella's right." Kol spoke up, making his family look at him. "Those people out there killed me, I'm not helping them. If you're all going to keep throwing yourselves headfirst into problems that aren't yours, then someone's got to stay out of it to make sure Hope has someone to look after her."

Klaus was up in an instant, his hand around Kol's throat, pinning him to the wall. "Just what do you mean by that, brother?" He growled.

"Bella's right! You have a little girl to think about now. If you get killed throwing yourselves into situations that don't concern you, who's going to look after her?" Kol wheezed.

Klaus snarled at him, throwing him across the room. Bella lunged forward, but Rebekah and Hayley held her back. Stalking over to Kol, Klaus yanked a silver dagger out of his pocket, pinning Kol against an oakwood side table and holding it over his heart, a warning.

"Klaus!" Elijah barked.

Rebekah tightened her grip on Bella's arms, Hayley pressing harder on her shoulders as she thrashed against them.

Klaus hesitated a moment, holding the dagger over Kol's heart, pressing it in deep enough for grey veins to creep up his neck.

"Don't you dare, Klaus! Don't you fucking dare!" Bella screamed at him, flailing furiously against her 'captors'. "If you do this I'll kill you!"

Klaus didn't seem perturbed by her threats, not thinking her serious.

Cami on the other hand, wasn't so sure Bella really would be above killing Klaus for hurting Kol. Ever since they'd come back from their Honeymoon, they seemed to look out for each other above everyone else; and Bella was extremely protective of him when it came to his family.

"Ok, let's everybody calm down." Elijah intervened. "Klaus let him go." Klaus glared down at his younger brother, not removing the dagger.

"Klaus!" Elijah snapped.

Huffing, Klaus backed off from Kol, who fell to the floor. Hayley and Rebekah let go of Bella, who quickly rushed to her husband's side. Using Bella as a crutch to help him while the tint of grey to his skin disappeared, Kol stood up, making to rush towards Klaus, a murderous look in his eyes.

"Enough!" Commanded Elijah, speeding between the two. "There is an easy enough way to resolve this. Whoever doesn't want to go, can stay here and look after Hope, while the rest do go." Turning to the others, Elijah asked them, "Who will be joining me in Mystic Falls?"

"I will." Cami was the first to speak up.

"Me too." Rebekah joined Cami.

Sighing, Marcel linked hands with Rebekah. "I'll go as well."

Klaus didn't give a verbal response, just nodded his head and went to stand next to Cami.

Everyone in the room turned to Hayley. She looked over at Elijah, before sighing and turning to Bella and Kol. "Look after my little girl."

Bella nodded to her, an odd silence falling over them all, before Klaus' jovial voice broke it.

"Off to Mystic Falls we go."

* * *

Once the others had left, it was a waiting game for Bella and Kol. Luckily, they had an 18-month-old to keep them occupied and stop Bella from worrying herself sick.

It was about two weeks after the others had left that Bella was watching Hope sleep, thinking. Her mind drifted back to her conversation with Jake, two months prior. She hadn't bought it up with Kol, unsure of how to. And, well, she was scared. He might not even want kids, and if she brought it up when he didn't, things between them could get tense.

But now, after having spent a couple weeks looking after a baby, she was seriously starting to consider finally talking to Kol about it.

She didn't realise she was frowning until Kol spoke up from the doorway. "What's wrong? Hope's not hurt, is she?" He hurried over, worry clear in his eyes. When he reached Bella and saw that Hope was sleeping peacefully, he relaxed.

It was this display of protection that made Bella's mind up. Taking his hand, she pulled him away from Hope in the direction of the door. "There's something we need to talk about Kol."

He frowned, trepidation rising in him, but Kol kept his mouth shut, letting her lead him down the hall towards their room.

When inside it, Bella shut the door behind them gently, directing Kol to sit on their bed. He did, watching as she sat on the other side, wringing her hands in her lap.

Nothing was said for a while, and Kol began to pick at a loose thread in the coverlet nervously.

"I want kids Kol." His head snapped up to face her, completely caught off guard. "I didn't before, and I was completely fine with that, because honestly, looking after my mom was enough to lose any maternal feelings I had. But now that … now that I've got you, after seeing the Pack and hearing them talk about families … it made me realise I want the same with you."

"Bella …" Kol started, and he sounded like he was in actual pain. "You know that we can't -"

"I know." She looked up at him, nodding. She swallowed before saying, "But there are other ways …" She trailed off, unable to tell what he was thinking. He was staring at her, face blank.

Bella chewed her lip, regretting her decision to bring it up.

After a few minutes of silence, she spoke up. "Forget it, it's stupid -"

"Is this something you really want?" Kol cut over her, his eyes searching her face.

Hesitantly, Bella nodded.

Kol sighed. "I've never been particularly paternal, Bella. Not even when I was human. But if this is something that you really want, there are options. Surrogacy, adoption, co-parenting, fostering … if it's something you want we will figure it out together."

Bella's brow furrowed. "I don't wanna do this if you don't want to."

Kol took Bella's hands in his own. "It's not that I don't want kids, Bella. I've just never thought of it before. But that doesn't mean that we can't look further into what options there are."

"You really mean that?"

Nodding, Kol smiled gently at her. "Yeah."

Squealing, Bella threw herself at him, knocking him back onto the pillows. "I love you."

Chuckling, Kol squeezed her waist, burying his nose in her hair. "I love you too." he murmured.

* * *

Another week passed after Bella and Kol's conversation before the others returned. In that week, Bella and Kol had looked at multiple options and factors, and had decided that adoption seemed the best route for them. They were planning to tell the rest of their family a few days after they got back.

It took the couple two days to work up the courage to call a family meeting and when they did, Bella almost called the whole thing off. It was Kol who convinced her that what they wanted was still the right thing. It wasn't lost on Bella how he used ' _they_ ' instead of ' _she_ '.

"Are you going to tell us what you wanted to talk about or are we supposed to just sit here and guess?" Rebekah sighed, downing her alcoholic beverage in one.

"KolanIgonnaadop!" Bella blurted out, holding her breath.

Cami pulled a face. "Kol and you are going to _A-dop_? Where's A-dop?"

"Not A-dop - that's not even a real place." Kol rolled his eyes playfully. "We're going to adopt. As in buy a child."

"Kol!" Bella exclaimed, turning to hit his chest with the back of her hand. "You can't _buy_ a child. That's not what adoption is."

Her husband arched a brow. "Then what is it?"

Huffing, Bella reminded him (again), "Adoption is legally looking after another person's child and raising it as our own."

"Same thing." Kol shrugged, and Bella was just about to go off on him when she saw the amused glint in his eye and realised he was teasing her.

"Woah, woah, back up a minute." Marcel got to his feet. "You're adopting?"

Bella and Kol both nodded, and a shriek left the blonde across the room.

Rebekah jumped up, rushing over to them, screaming. "I'm going to be an aunt again!" She crushed Bella and Kol against her in a hug, positively beaming.

Elijah rose to his feet too, but surveyed them from afar. "When did you decide this?"

"About a week ago. Well, Bella decided she wanted children when her friends were here. She only recently told me and we've been looking through the options since."

"And you're both sure this is what you want?" Elijah checked.

"Yes." Both Kol and Bella answered simultaneously.

A sudden chuckle rang out from where Klaus and Cami were seated. Everyone turned to look at them as Klaus started full on laughing.

"Kol's going to be a father." He chortled, clutching his side even as Kol's growl echoed throughout the house …

* * *

 **A/N: I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, but I decided to post it anyway because you guys have been waiting so long. Also, there's a Poll on my Profile that I would appreciate you guys looking at, it's a question concerning a pretty vital piece of information for the next chapter.**

 **Let me know what you thought of this chapter, reviews are always welcome.**

 **Next chapter up … as soon as I finish writing it. ^_^**


	7. Discontinued

So, I'm really sorry to do this again, but I'm no longer happy with this story. I started writing it over two years ago and my writing style has changed a lot since then, as has my ability to come up with a better plot. I'm not going to delete it, as I do have another Kol/Bella story in mind but I will no longer be continuing this.  
I am not going to start on my new Kol/Bella story straight away, I have some other story ideas I would like to write first, but when I do eventually get round to this pairing again, I will likely delete _this_ story and post my better, improved one.  
I'm hoping to incorporate certain aspects from this, uh … thing that I wrote into it, but it will have a much more thought-out plot and just overall thing-y-majigy-bob.  
I realise I'm rambling now (and using words that do not exist), so I'll stop there, with another really big apology.


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